Join us in exploring the connections between architecture, art, and nature in this informal conversation series! In Conversation brings together a speaker who will share their passion for the topic with our host and you. Ask questions and share your own experience, while learning something new, and engage with others.
This season, four sessions will be in person, and four will be online. For those who wish to attend a program in person, ask questions, and engage with others, our onsite offerings will allow for a casual, interactive format. For those who can’t make it to our Arizona site, our online offerings will provide the opportunity to listen to conversations on a wide range of topics and to pose your own questions to the speaker.
Details:
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Includes access to program area only.
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In-person programs will be held indoors.
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This is not a formal tour of Taliesin West. Please consider purchasing a Tour if you would like to see more of the property.
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Links for virtual programs will be sent via email in advance.
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If you have any questions about Cultural Programs at Taliesin West, please refer to our FAQ.
Dates:
Dates vary see individual program listings.
In-Person Program Price:
Adults $35
Students (13-25 with student ID) $24
Members $31.50
Online Program Price:
Adults $25
Students (13-25 with student ID) $17
Members $22.50
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Members receive discounts on Cultural Programs, have access to special Member-Only programs, and more. Learn about Membership here.
Agapita Judy Lopez on Georgia O’Keeffe
March 7, 2024
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Cabaret Theatre
American Icons: Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O’Keeffe explores the similarities and differences between two American masters, born in Wisconsin, who found homes in the Desert Southwest, as captured through the lens of photographer Tony Vaccaro. Join us as Agapita “Pita” Judy Lopez discusses her time as working at Georgia O’Keeffe’s home Abiquiú as O’Keeffe’s secretary and companion, and her close relationship with Ms. O’Keeffe.
Meet Our Presenter
Agapita “Pita” Lopez began working with American artist Georgia O’Keeffe in 1974, and became her personal secretary in 1978 until her death on March 6, 1986. A third generation employee, her grandfather and mother also worked for O’Keeffe as has her maternal grandmother, father, brothers, and sister. In 1986, Pita continued working with the O’Keeffe Estate, and then The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation as Secretary. She served as the Foundation’s Executive Director from 1999 to 2006. Currently, Projects Director of the O’Keeffe properties at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, she oversees the maintenance and preservation of both houses and the seasonal tours offered at the Abiquiu home and studio. She co-authored a book on the houses with Barbara Buhler Lynes, Curator of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum released by Abrams in the fall of 2012. With her brother, Belarmino Lopez, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division.
Adam Nocek on the Shaping Impact of Architecture and Design
April 24
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Cabaret Theater
Have you ever thought about how the architecture and design of spaces and objects around you shape who you are and how you think? Join us as Adam Nocek, Associate Professor in the Philosophy of Technology and Science and Technology Studies in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering at Arizona State University, discusses the shaping impact of architecture and design.
Meet Our Presenter
Adam Nocek is an Associate Professor in the Philosophy of Technology and Science and Technology Studies in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering at Arizona State University. He is also the Founding Director of ASU’s Center for Philosophical Technologies. Nocek has published widely on the philosophy of media and science; speculative philosophy (especially Whitehead); design philosophy, history, and practice; and critical and speculative theories of computational media. He recently published Molecular Capture: The Animation of Biology (Minnesota, 2021), and is working on his next monograph, Governmental Design: On Algorithmic Autonomy. Nocek is the co-editor (with Tony Fry) of Design in Crisis: New Worlds, Philosophies and Practices, The Lure of Whitehead (with Nicholas Gaskill), along with several other collections and special issues, including a special issue of Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities (with Cary Wolfe) titled, “Ontogenesis Beyond Complexity.” He is the editor of Techniques Journal and is a visiting researcher at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis at the University of Amsterdam. Nocek previously held the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Visiting Professorship.
Education
Ph.D. University of Washington
M.A. Boston College
B.A. Honours, McGill University
The Architecture of Suspense: Wright’s Impact on Alfred Hitchcock’s Cinematic Villain’s Lair.
April 18
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
If Wright was the greatest architect of the 20th century, then Hitchcock was likely the greatest director. Join us as Christine Madrid French discusses her new book, The Architecture of Suspense, and how architecture, specifically the villain’s lair, becomes a character in Hitchcock’s classic films.
Meet Our Presenter
Christine Madrid French is an historian and advocate for the study and preservation of American architecture. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and is a graduate of the University of Utah and the University of Virginia (MArH). She has worked as an historian for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C., directed the Modern + Recent Past Program at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is the Director of Advocacy & Programs at San Francisco Heritage. Her book The Architecture of Suspense: The Built World in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock (University of Virginia Press, 2022), focusing on the real-world histories of cinematic structures, was featured in the October 2022 issue of Vanity Fair.
A Closer Look at the Oak Park Studio with Professor Lisa Schrenk
May 23
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Before Taliesin, Taliesin West, or The Fellowship, there was the Oak Park Studio. Wright’s first studio (1989 – 1909) meshed his home and work lives and became a place of community and education. The Studio was not just an iconic building, but also served as a place for experimentation and creativity, providing a setting for early attempts at many of the ideas the architect explored further later in his career.
Join us as Lisa Schrenk, Professor of Architectural History at the University of Arizona and Jennifer Gray, Vice President and Director of the Taliesin Institute, discuss Schrenk’s book, The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright. This is a virtual program that can be enjoyed from anywhere! Participants will have access to a recording of the conversation for 30 days after the program.
Meet Our Presenter
Lisa D. Schrenk, Ph.D. (BA: Macalaster College; Master of Architectural History: UVirginia; Ph.D. UTexas, Austin) is a Professor of Architectural History at the University of Arizona and co-founder of the global Institute for the Study of International Expositions. She is a former Education Director for the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation and has served on the Board of Directors for the Society of Architectural Historians and as President of the Chicago Society of Architectural Historians. Her research reassesses developments in modern architecture with focuses on Chicago, international expositions, and the early work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Her numerous publications include The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright (UChicago) and Building a Century of Progress: The Architecture of Chicago’s 1933-34 World’s Fair (UMinnesota). Dr. Schrenk has documented works of architectural significance in over 85 countries, including while teaching on two around-the-world Semester at Sea voyages. In 2020 she was named AIA Arizona Community Educator of the Year, in part for initiating and serving as faculty advisor for the University of Arizona’s Women in Architecture Society.
Private Events at Taliesin West
Hosting your event at this architectural icon will be a special and memorable experience for your guests. For those who value one-of-a-kind experiences in iconic environments, Taliesin West is both a National Historic Landmark and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Taliesin West may not be used for birthday parties, reunions, wedding receptions, external customer marketing events or events that are political or religious in nature.