'Out and About Wright' tour day May 5 in Springfield and Decatur
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[April 11, 2012]
SPRINGFIELD -- President Abraham
Lincoln is undoubtedly the most famous resident of Springfield, but
Frank Lloyd Wright also called Springfield home for a brief time
when he was working for Susan Lawrence Dana. Architectural tours of
the Dana-Thomas House (1902-1904) and Lawrence Memorial Library
(1905) on May will give participants an opportunity to experience
Frank Lloyd Wright's Springfield.
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Although the magnificently restored Dana-Thomas House, its 400-plus
pieces of art glass and many original furnishings are Frank Lloyd
Wright's best-known work in Springfield, he also designed the
Lawrence Memorial Library (1905) at the nearby Lawrence School,
named for Susan's father, who had been president of the Springfield
school board. After his work in Springfield, Wright returned to
central Illinois several years later to work on the Edward Irving
House (1909) with Marion Mahony, his longest serving employee and
wife of Walter Burley Griffin. The Irving House is in Millikin
Place, a grouping of several prairie houses in the city of Decatur.
Mahony also designed the adjacent Robert Mueller House (1909-1911)
and Adolph Mueller House (1910).
"Out and About Wright" participants will begin their day with an
extended tour of the Dana-Thomas House and a trip to the Lawrence
Educational Center to see the Lawrence Memorial Library before
traveling to Millikin Place to see the Irving house, both Mueller
houses and the historic Millikin Homestead.
Back in Springfield, an evening reception at the Dana-Thomas
House will give participants a new perspective on this extraordinary
prairie mansion as the sun begins to set. There will also be a
presentation by Mike Jackson on the restoration of the Dana-Thomas
House.
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The all-day tour will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude by 7:30 p.m.
Registration is $175 for members of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building
Conservancy and $200 for nonmembers.
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The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, an international
preservation organization, is based in Chicago. Founded in 1989, its
mission is to facilitate the preservation and maintenance of the
remaining structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright through
education, advocacy and technical services.
[Text from
Frank Lloyd Wright Building
Conservancy news release
received from the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency]
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