Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibit "Footprints on the Desert"

Celebrating 150 years of Frank Lloyd Wright, the AZ Heritage Center opened a new exhibit on Thursday, October 12 with great fanfare, food and fun.

October 13, 2017 – March 31, 2018
AZ Heritage Center at Papago Park

The exhibit features notable Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings in Arizona. Wright’s architectural designs reveal painstaking attention to detail, with an intense dedication to sustainability and beauty. The exhibit includes images and artifacts from Wright’s Taliesin West, David Wright House and Harold C. Price House, as well as other Wright designs – including some that were never built. The exhibit will include supplemental information available digitally on mobile devices via the free Cuseum application. Footprints on the Desert: Frank Lloyd Wright in Arizona was organized by the AZ Heritage Center in cooperation with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and in conjunction with the year of Wright’s 150th birthday.

More Photos from Evening Under the Stars at the David Wright House April 9

Jill Hicks with David Wright's granddaughter

Larry and Margaret Baker, Barry and Margo Johns

Dan and Katherine Thornhill

Phil and Ruth Ann Hogan

Elaine Kapach, Alec McDonald, Cindy Nahrgang

Patti Goss

Heading for registration area

Architect Barry Johns

Planning for David Wright House event began in 2015

Ruth McLeod, Margaret Baker, Kay Holcombe

Meeting with our contact at the David and Gladys Wright House last November, President Margaret Baker, co-chairs Kay Holcombe and Ruth McLeod made plans for a Spring Event. After months of planning for Evening Under the Stars, the event takes place this Saturday, April 9. And it looks like the rain will stop in time for a beautiful evening which is Sold Out. The luminarias are gone but the home is fascinating. We are pleased to raise funds for National History Day www.NHDAZ.org at this event.

Students and teachers will be there to tell us about the program.

Guest speaker Canadian architect Barry

Johns will tell us about Frank Lloyd Wright who designed and built the house in 1950 for his son David and daughter-in-law Gladys. Docents will tell us about the home during informal tours. And the silent auction will feature some very usual and priceless items.

Save the Date for Spring Event at historic David Wright house

In 1950, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a home for his son David and daughter-in-law Gladys on 10 acres in the middle of citrus groves at the base of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona. The design elevated the home in the form of a spiral rising from the desert floor, converting the treetops into the lawn and revealing 360° views of the mountains forming the valley. Mr. Wright title of the plans “How to Live in the Southwest.” Completed in 1952, the David Wright House is one of three spiral designs realized by Mr. Wright and the precursor to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The house is regarded as Mr. Wright’s last residential masterpiece.

We are excited to support National History Day (www.NHD.org) with this Spring Event.

NHD is a non-profit education organization that engages over half a million middle- and high-school students around the world annually in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. These projects are entered into contests at the local and affiliate levels, where the top student projects can advance to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.

The idea was the brainchild of history professor David Van Tassel, who was worried about the decline of the humanities in general and history in particular in America’s schools in 1974. Van Tassel was particularly distressed by the boring rote memorization he saw in most history classrooms.  He wanted to reinvigorate the teaching and learning of history.

He employed a contest format to motivate students to study the past—and engage in the art of historical inquiry. Van Tassel didn’t want a history-light spelling bee, instead he wanted students to ask provocative questions, conduct research, and analyze information to draw conclusions. He called it “History Day.” The name stuck, but the day turned into a year-long educational experience.

Today NHD contestants become writers, filmmakers, playwrights, web designers, and artists as they create unique, contemporary expressions of history.  National History Day is a learning adventure that teaches critical thinking, writing and research skills and boosts performance across all subjects – not just history.  To facilitate this, NHD provides a framework and curriculum materials for teachers and guidance for students.