When Gov. Tony Evers signed the 2025-2027 Wisconsin budget into law on July 3, the $111 billion package included $5 million to support preservation and infrastructure projects at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin in Spring Green.
More than just the most famous American architect’s home and studio, Taliesin was also for nearly 100 years a school for architects, too. (For a fascinating look at the early days of the program, check out Edgar Tafel’s engrossing book “Years with Frank Lloyd Wright: Apprentice to Genius.”)
Although the school closed in 2020, the 800-acre estate still draws more than 30,000 visitors each year from every state and nearly 60 countries. Those visitors create a $4 million regional impact annually.
Although the $5 million won’t cover all the work that needs to be done at the sprawling Taliesin, it will serve as downpayment on that work, according to Taliesin Preservation, a nonprofit founded in 1993 to preserve Taliesin’s natural, built and cultural environments via educational and cultural programming.
“This is a pivotal moment,” said Taliesin Preservation Executive Director Carrie Rodamaker. “The state’s support provides momentum for the complex and ongoing work ahead. It affirms that Taliesin is not only a cultural treasure, but a powerful engine for education and economic development in Wisconsin.”
Taliesin is a National Historic Landmark and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The money budgeted by the state will help fund preservation work on major structures, expand accessibility and create dynamic visitor engagement.
“This funding is a meaningful and generous commitment to preserving one of Wisconsin’s greatest cultural landmarks,” said Mark Dreher, who is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Foundation President and CEO Joseph Specter added, “We thank the State of Wisconsin for recognizing Taliesin’s national and global significance. This investment strengthens our shared mission to preserve Wright’s legacy and welcome new audiences into his vision.”
You can learn more about visiting Taliesin here.
“Taliesin is more than a historical site,” said TPI Board of Trustees Chair Phillip Prange, “it is a living, evolving asset that drives tourism, inspires innovation, and celebrates the enduring legacy of America’s greatest architect.”
And that architect, a Wisconsin native, chose to call the Badger State home for most of his life.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
