The Gard Legacy: 50 Years of Arts in the Spring Green Community

press release: On Friday, September 22, 1967, the building now known as the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center was completed just in time to host a dinner with First Lady “Lady Bird” Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Johnson. Then called The Spring Green, this bridge-like terrace on the Wisconsin River was Wright’s culminating gesture at Taliesin and related the estate both to the river and to area residents. In honor of the 50th anniversary of this unique structure, Taliesin Preservation announces an open house and invites area residents and visitors alike to enjoy an evening of refreshments, music, an exhibit of rare photographs, and remarks by special guests.

Live classical music will be performed by the Hillside Trio, and visitors are invited to view an exhibit of photographs by Robert Hartmann that picture the building under construction in the 1960s. Four speakers, including preservationist Anne Biebel; Olympic medalist Carie Graves; community arts expert and daughter of Robert Gard, Maryo Gard Ewell; and photographer Robert Hartmann; will connect this building both to Wright’s body of work at Taliesin and to the blossoming community arts scene that attracted Lady Bird Johnson to Spring Green. Biebel will be available to sign copies of a new special issue of Organic Architecture + Design magazine focused on the fascinating history of the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center, and Ewell will be available to sign a book of writings by her father that she edited called “To Change the Face and Hearts of America: Selected Writings on the Arts and Communities, 1949-1992.”

In honor of the summer of 1967, Lady Bird’s visit and the community arts legacy that lives on, two 50th anniversary celebrations converge with the evening open house at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center on Friday, September 22, and an afternoon celebration at the Gard Theater on Saturday, September 23. The events parallel the sequence of Lady Bird’s visit, in which the Uplands Arts Council and its supporters welcomed Johnson to dinner at the The Spring Green before heading to the Gard Theater in town for a performance of “Hodag! A New Musical,” by Robert Gard with music by David Peterson.

At the Gard Theater on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 1:30 p.m., The Gard Legacy: 50 Years of Arts in the Spring Green Community will celebrate Lady Bird's visit, the renovation and renaming of The Gard Theater, and the arts in rural communities program that Spring Green was awarded among five test communities. Ewell is the main speaker for the program and will give a talk and visual presentation. There will be other special guests, including some original members of the River Valley Players who performed in “Hodag!” in 1967. Ewell will be speaking about the book of writings by her father that she edited that will lead into discussion of Spring Green's history of the arts and where we go from here. The event is being sponsored by the Spring Green Area Arts Coalition, Arcadia Books, Community Theater Association of Spring Green, and Taliesin Preservation.

Sponsored by Taliesin Preservation, the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center 50th Anniversary Celebration at 5-8 p.m. Friday, September 22, is free to the public. Refreshments will be served and a cash bar will be available. RSVPs are requested to events@taliesinpreservation.org.