Grace Personified

Crystal Bridges celebrates architect and his vision

Dylan Turk has a special relationship with the Frank Lloyd Wright home that was moved in 2015 to the grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

“I saw this house before it was even here,” says Turk, a curatorial assistant. “Seeing it rebuilt on our grounds and getting to help define the story that’s told about it at Crystal Bridges was my first big project. My job is to protect it and to keep that [story] true and honest.”

The Bachman-Wilson House is most often presented as an example of Wright’s “classic Usonian architecture.” But Turk hopes that during the celebration of Wright’s 150th birthday on June 8, visitors will see how the architect’s designs continue to influence how we live today.

“Before Frank Lloyd Wright, the Victorian idea of spaces was big rooms separated by doors, and each [room] had a fireplace. You never had to see anybody else who lived there,” Turk says. “But [Wright] said, ‘No, you need to get to know the people you live with. I’m going to put the fireplace in the middle of the living room’ — and the idea of today’s big great rooms is an evolution of his idea.”

Turk also hopes that visitors see what following a passion can create.

“Wright was born in 1867,” he points out. “So he understood what it meant to be ahead of his time.”