Join us! Saving Wisconsin’s Historic Theatres: A Taliesin Workshop

Do you own an historic theatre in Wisconsin? Are you a member of a community development team? Or a citizen committed to preserving local heritage? We have the workshop for you!

We’re holding an exciting two-day workshop at Taliesin, September 17-18. Already sold? You can register here or via the button below. For the unconvinced, please keep reading!

Saving Wisconsin’s Historic Theatres

During the September workshop, people from Wisconsin and beyond will gather to discuss the challenges and successes facing the state’s historic theatres. Created by the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the workshop features a rich and varied array of preservation topics, with a focus on historic theatres. Workshop attendees will also have the opportunity to network and tour the Taliesin grounds (for free!) with a special look at ongoing restoration.

Taliesin Hillside

Al Ringling Theater

Mabel Tainter Theater

Workshop Features

• Stories from the front: struggles and success of 8 Wisconsin theatres

• Deep dive on historic restoration projects and turning these structures into an economic engine

• How to execute a revitalization plan for your local theater or Main Street project

• Preservation news from around the country

• How to research, document, and protect a historic building (Hint: Lasers!)

• Ideas for funding preservation projects

• ·Methods for restoring historic art glass, wall paintings, marquees, and lighting

• Choosing the right designers and contractors

• Q & A discussion with experts

Thank you to our supporting partners.
Click for more information on the workshop.

The Bond Company LLC

Formerly Spray-O-Bond

TechRender LLC

Laser Scanning and Documentation

ECS Midwest LLC

Geotechnical and environmental Consulting

Heritage Consulting Group

Historic building consulting and development

Taliesin Wisconsin

Preservation at Taliesin

Taliesin Full Tour Season Underway

Spring Green, WI, - The 600-acre Taliesin Estate, which contains Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic home, is once again awakening from hibernation to welcome tourists. Wright is considered one of the most influential architects of the 20thcentury, and his personal estate attracts fans the world over eager to explore the root of his genius. The full tour season begins May 1st and the National Historic site will be open every day through October 31st. Taliesin (tal-ee-EH-sin) was built in 1911 in a rural valley originally inhabited by Wright’s maternal ancestors. Wright spent much of his youth there and would later leave Chicago, return to the area and devote nearly fifty years of his life to developing a community infused with beauty, art, vitality and architecture. Today, these attributes are still intact and efforts to preserve and restore the estate, while educating the public about the life and work of the architect, are ongoing.

The Taliesin estate features five Wright-designed structures spanning many decades of Wright’s career. The size and historical scope of the Taliesin Estate are such that Taliesin Preservation, Inc. (TPI) offers eight different tour options to the public during the regular season. Tours are offered every day and include the Hillside School Tour (1 hour), House Tour (2 hours), Highlights Tour (2 hours) and Estate Tour (4 hours). Specialty tours are scheduled one Friday per month for those Wright enthusiasts eager to dig deeper into the multi-faceted layers of Taliesin - the Landscape Tour, Preservation Tour, Exploring Taliesin Tour and Loving Frank Tour.

For tour descriptions, pricing and reservations, call 877-588-7900 or visit www.taliesinpreservation.org. TPI also offers a wide range of art and architectural outreach programs for youth and adults throughout the regular season. Call or visit our website for details.

Advance reservations are strongly recommended for all tours. Walk-ins are welcome as space permits. Children under the age of 12 are only permitted on the Hillside School Tour. Group rates of 21 or more are available by advance reservation for the House and Hillside Tours. Accessible tours can be arranged with three weeks’ notice by special arrangement. Call for details. All tours begin at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center, located two miles south of Spring Green, Wisconsin, at the intersection of Hwy. 23 and Cty. Rd. C. Taliesin is one hour west of Madison, 2.5 hours west of Milwaukee, 3.5 hours from Chicago, and 5 hours from Minneapolis.

About Taliesin Preservation, Inc.: Founded in 1992, TPI operates the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center at Taliesin, which offers public access to the site and grounds, serves as an educational resource on Frank Lloyd Wright and his work, and conducts the preservation program to maintain, restore and nurture the physical environment of the Taliesin Estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin. In partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Inc., based in Scottsdale, Ariz., it is the mission of Taliesin Preservation, Inc. to conserve the masterful buildings and landscape of the Taliesin Estate, and to educate the public on the man, the architect, the architecture, and his ideas.

Why the Preservation of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Matters

"It is my candidate for the title of the greatest single building in America.”(Robert Campbell, “House Proud,” BostonGlobe Magazine)

Taliesin is, in many ways, Frank Lloyd Wright’s autobiography, architectural manifesto, and sketchbook. From its original construction in 1911, Wright continually changed, experimented with, and rethought Taliesin until his death in 1959. It was an intensely personal building and became the crucible for many of his ideas about Organic architecture, the “complete expression of Wright’s integration of architecture and nature.” (Neil Levine, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright).

Recognition of Taliesin’s national significance came in 1976, when the residence, and the 600-acre Taliesin estate with four other Wright-designed structures, was awarded National Historic Landmark status. In 1999, the American Society of Landscape Architects awarded the Taliesin estate with a centennial medallion, recognizing it as one of the most important landscapes in theUnited States. In 2008, the National Park Service placed Taliesin, along with nine other Frank Lloyd Wright-designed structures, on a tentative list of sites that was submitted to the World Heritage Committee in 2009 for World Heritage Status.

While the architect was onsite for much of the initial construction, the structure was not built in a conventional manner: there are very few construction drawings, no contract documents regarding the building, and few specifications related to it. In addition to Wright’s initial approach to the building, it suffered two devastating fires (1914 and 1925), from which he had to rebuild.

The preservation policy used by Taliesin’s owners (the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation) and its stewards (Taliesin Preservation, Inc.) is the result of approved standards and procedures developed by the United States Secretary of the Interior. This policy allows us to consistently balance appropriate remedial measures with Frank Lloyd Wright’s approach to his home as it evolved through the second half of his life.

Article provided by Taliesin Preservation, Inc.

Taliesin in Spring Green included on International 2010 "Watch List"

The World Monuments Fund included Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, on its 2010 Watch List. The U.S. based organization is dedicated to bringing attention to threatened historic structures of international significance. For over forty years, it has worked in more than ninety countries establishing partnerships with local communities and governments, banks and other funding sources, to inspire an enduring commitment to the stewardship of the built environment.

Please click here to see the Press Release.