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| Price Tower Arts Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Price Tower Arts Center |
| Location | Bartlesville, Oklahoma, United States |
| Built | 1956–1958 |
| Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
| Architectural style | Modernist, Organic Architecture |
| Governing body | City of Bartlesville / Price Tower Arts Center, Inc. |
Price Tower Arts Center
Price Tower Arts Center is a cultural institution housed in a landmark high-rise designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The complex functions as a museum, gallery, education center, and boutique hotel, attracting visitors interested in Frank Lloyd Wright, Modern architecture, and 20th-century American design. The building occupies a unique place within narratives about Usonian architecture, Skyscraper design, Historic preservation, and regional development in Oklahoma.
The origin story traces to commissioning by oil executive Harold C. Price in the 1950s, placing the project within postwar expansion and ties to corporate patrons such as H. C. Price Company and local philanthropic networks including Bartlesville Community Foundation and civic actors from Washington County, Oklahoma. Wright accepted the commission in the context of contemporaneous projects like S. C. Johnson & Son Administration Building, Taliesin West, and the Guggenheim Museum, proposing a vertical "tree" concept that contrasted with prevailing commissions by clients such as Edgar Kaufmann Jr. and institutions like The Museum of Modern Art. Construction took place during the late 1950s amid involvement by contractors and consultants experienced with projects such as Imperial Hotel (Tokyo) reconstruction and influenced by broader postwar material supply chains associated with firms like U.S. Steel and Armco. After Wright’s death in 1959, stewardship transitioned through local organizations, advocacy by preservationists linked to National Trust for Historic Preservation, and municipal partnerships similar to those forged for sites like Taliesin and Unity Temple. The site later became recognized by registers comparable to the National Register of Historic Places and benefited from listings promoted by cultural policymakers in Oklahoma City and national heritage networks.
The structure exemplifies Wright's late Modernist approach, synthesizing principles seen in Fallingwater, Robie House, and Hollyhock House with innovations in verticality akin to early skyscrapers by Louis Sullivan and the Wainwright Building. Its composition uses a cantilevered plan, modular floor plates, and materials such as copper, concrete, and boarded timbers similar to palettes used at Taliesin and Darwin D. Martin House. The tower’s hexagonal grid and payne of projecting bays relate to precedents like Unity Temple and geometric work by Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, while Wright’s emphasis on organic forms echoes concepts from The Natural House and writings compiled in The Future of Architecture. Interior planning integrates mixed-use functions—residential, exhibition, and hospitality—reflecting typologies also explored at Fallingwater and institutional programs like Barnsdall Art Park. Technical systems reference midcentury advances similar to those used in projects associated with Eero Saarinen and Philip Johnson.
Preservation efforts were influenced by advocacy models used by Ada Louise Huxtable, campaigns by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and restoration precedents at Taliesin Preservation. Major rehabilitation phases drew on expertise from architectural conservators familiar with conservation projects like Guggenheim Museum renovation and funding mechanisms paralleling grants from entities such as the National Endowment for the Arts and state historic preservation offices in Oklahoma. Interventions balanced maintaining Wright's original intent with meeting codes advanced by agencies akin to Historic American Buildings Survey and accessibility standards promoted by national legislation like the Americans with Disabilities Act. Collaboration involved specialists in materials conservation, mechanical retrofitting, and museum planning with methodologies similar to those used by teams working on Chrysler Building and Carnegie Hall restorations.
The center’s curatorial program presents rotating exhibitions and permanent collections focused on architecture, design, and regional art, engaging narratives comparable to collections at Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and university galleries such as Philbrook Museum of Art. Exhibits have featured works by artists and designers connected to Wright’s circle and successors including references to Wright’s apprentices, creators from the Prairie School, and contemporary practitioners from institutions like Cooper Hewitt and Smithsonian American Art Museum. The site frequently mounts thematic displays on midcentury furnishings, textiles, and architectural drawings, employing interpretive strategies used by curators at Getty Center and Metropolitan Museum of Art for contextualizing objects, archival materials, and ephemera.
Educational programming aligns with outreach practices at cultural organizations such as The Kennedy Center, National Museum of Women in the Arts, and university art departments at Wichita State University and University of Tulsa. Offerings include guided architecture tours, workshops for students modeled after curricula promoted by National Endowment for the Humanities, and professional seminars resonant with continuing-education initiatives at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and Harvard Graduate School of Design. Partnerships with regional schools and cultural agencies mirror collaborations seen between Smithsonian Institution affiliates and statewide arts councils like the Oklahoma Arts Council.
Visitors access the facility via regional transportation nodes servicing Bartlesville Municipal Airport and major highways linking to Tulsa and Oklahoma City, with on-site amenities including galleries, a boutique lodging component, and event spaces adapted from Wright’s original plans, similar to hospitality programs at historic house museums like Fallingwater and Taliesin West. Hours, ticketing, membership, and accessibility policies follow patterns employed by museums such as Frick Collection and regional institutions like Gilcrease Museum, with special events announced in coordination with cultural calendars maintained by entities like Visit OKC and local tourism bureaus.
Category:Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Category:Museums in Oklahoma