July 25, 2011
Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibition Shows Impact on Home Decor and Family Life
Robert Doyle READ TIME: 2 MIN.
RACINE, Wis. (AP) - The SC Johnson company plans to display a collection of artifacts highlighting Frank Lloyd Wright's influence on families at the home starting next spring.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation said that it is providing a long-term loan of drawings, models, furniture, fixtures, photos and personal items to the Racine, Wis.-based company.
The exhibition will start next spring and doesn't have an end date.
Frank Lloyd Wright, who grew up in Spring Green, designed the company's Administration Building in 1936 and Research Tower in 1944.
"SC Johnson is a natural fit for such a robust exhibit on home and family, and this is a wonderful opportunity for the foundation to continue educating the public about the works and legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright," Jeff Grip, chairman of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Board of Trustees, said in a statement.
"From Taliesin to Wright's Home and Studio, the Midwest has a wealth of opportunities to learn about Wright and be exposed to his work. The SC Johnson exhibit will be the next great stop on this pilgrimage."
The collection will be in Fortaleza Hall, which features a Wright library and reading room. It has more than 800 items including books on Wright and his career, drawings, blueprints, letters and photos.
The exhibit will include pieces from Wright's personal homes and studios in Wisconsin, Illinois and Arizona as well as homes he designed for clients across the country.
It is expected to explore Wright's influence on the home throughout his career. It will include artifacts from Wright's early exploration of the natural house in the early 1900s through his American System pre-cut housing venture of 1917 to his reinvention of the American home in 1940. It will also feature artifacts from the mid-1950s.
SC Johnson makes household cleaning products including Pledge and Windex.
Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.
