FLWPT to Operate Tours and Programs at Unity Temple

Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust Begins Operation of Tours and Programs at Unity Temple in October

(Oak Park, IL) August 19, 2013 - Unity Temple announced today that the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust will begin operation of tours and programs at Unity Temple in October 2013. Ian Morrison, past-President of the Board of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation and Board member of the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation stated, “Partnering with the Preservation Trust makes sense for Unity Temple for many reasons. The Preservation Trust has a well-established tour operation at several Wright sites and we believe they can enhance the public experience of our beloved building as we prepare to launch a significant fundraising effort in support of preservation and restoration. ”

In September, the Preservation Trust will train volunteer interpreters to lead Unity Temple tours, which are scheduled to begin in October.

“We will make gradual changes,” said Laura Dodd, Director of Guest Experience and Program Operations at the Trust. “It may take a full year to completely integrate our new tour operation and programs. In the year ahead, we hope to bring Unity Temple closer to our community and to a larger national and international audience.”

“Unity Temple Restoration Foundation is supportive of this change as it allows us to focus our attention on fundraising and ensuring the completion of the restoration and preservation of Unity Temple,” said UTRF Board member Bradford White. Preservation Trust President & CEO, Celeste Adams observed, “Unity Temple was designed in Wright’s Oak Park Studio and visitors will be able to move seamlessly from the place of design conception to the realization of Unity Temple. We are pleased to tell this compelling story.”

Frank Lloyd Wright was raised in the Unitarian Church and his uncle Jenkin Lloyd Jones was a distinguished Unitarian minister. In 1889, Wright married his wife Catherine Tobin in his uncle’s Unitarian Church on the south side of Chicago. The couple then moved to Oak Park where they built their home and Wright established his practice. Several of Wright’s early Oak Park clients were members of the Oak Park Unitarian Church.

In June 1905, the Oak Park Unitarian Church burned to the ground, and members of the congregation immediately formed a building committee. On September 16, 1905, 38 year-old Frank Lloyd Wright received the commission for a new church edifice from Pastor Rodney Johonnet, who felt that the new building should reflect the liberal nature of Unitarian thought.

Unity Temple was completed in 1908 and dedicated in September 1909. Based upon the module of the cube, the design was at once strikingly new and timelessly classic. The sophisticated interior details, which enhance and enrich the geometric character of the building, include a clerestory of leaded glass windows. A flat, coffered ceiling floats above a nimbus of natural light, illuminating the interiors from above. Unity Temple is an eloquent manifestation of Unitarian principles and brilliant architectural achievement of the modern era.

In 1905, simultaneous with Unity Temple, Wright undertook the design of a new light court at The Rookery building by Burnham and Root in downtown Chicago. He was about to take his place among Chicago’s greatest architects. In 1908, he started work on Robie House in Hyde Park. Unity Temple (1905-08) and Robie House (1908-10) are the two Frank Lloyd Wright sites in the Chicago area that are potential U.S. nominees for UNESCO World Heritage designation.

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ABOUT UNITY TEMPLE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION

Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation is a vibrant, progressive religious community, committed to transforming lives, deepening faith and understanding, and challenging one another to live out our shared values. Founded in 1871, UTUUC serves this region through outstanding worship and music, religious education for children and adults, a broad range of small groups, and opportunities for service.

ABOUT UNITY TEMPLE RESTORATION FOUNDATION

Unity Temple Restoration Foundation restores and preserves Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece of modern architecture, Unity Temple.

ABOUT THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT PRESERVATION TRUST

The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust is a Chicago-based, not-for-profit organization that operates at five major Wright sites in the Chicago area, including the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio (1889/1898), The Rookery Light Court (1905-07), Unity Temple (1905-08), the Frederick C. Robie House (1908-10) and the Emil Bach House (1914-15).

Contact

Andrea L. Brown
Senior Manager – Public Relations
Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust
abrown1@gowright.org
(312) 994-4020