American architecture organisation The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has announced its president and CEO Stuart Graff will step down after eight years of acting as the head executive.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, an organisation dedicated to preserving the intellectual and physical legacy of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, announced that Graff would be stepping down from the role to pursue a new role with arts consulting firm CulturalMaterial.
Graff, trained as an intellectual property lawyer, has held the position since 2016. According to the Foundation, he was at the helm of the organisation longer than anyone since the Wright family managed it.
Wright himself established the Foundation in the 1940s and it was managed by his family until the 1980s.
“Longest-serving” president since the Wrights
“As the longest-serving president since the Wrights, Stuart has been a transformative leader for the Foundation, and his work will continue to be impactful in the years to come,” said the chair of the Foundation’s board Mark Dreher.
Graff is credited with the “growth of the Foundation’s revenue sources”, as well as the establishment of an endowment for the foundation.
He also led preservation projects at Wright’s headquarters at Taliesin West and Taliesin, which were both added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2019.
The Foundation also opened the Taliesin Institute during Stuart’s tenure, to train architecture students and facilitate scholarship around Wright’s principles of organic architecture and their impact on the world today,” said the Foundation in a statement.
During his tenure, Graff facilitated partnerships and licensing agreements that allowed brands to use elements of Wright’s work for product development.
Some of these included a series of furniture with American manufacturer Steelcase based on Wright’s designs – some of which were originally produced by Steelcase – as well as a collaboration with American fashion brand Kith for a pair of sneakers informed by Wright’s colour palette.
Graff to continue to advise board in interim
Some controversy also mired Graff’s tenure at the Foundation.
In 2017, the Foundation announced it would close the Wright-established School of Architecture, which was housed at Taliesin West. After a public outcry, the Foundation reversed its decision, but the two entities could not agree on their continuing relationship and the school was forced to move from its historic home and to change its name.
At the time, ArtNet reported on a “climate of fear” at the Foundation under Graff’s leadership – claims Graff said were “false and inaccurate”.
The Foundation said that Graff will continue to advise the board while they seek a replacement. Graff said that he will build on the “excellent licensing success” achieved at the Foundation in his next role.
“CulturalMaterial will build off the excellent licensing success that we’ve achieved at the Foundation—which was named 2024 Design Company of the Year by Fast Company magazine,” said Graff.
“I’m excited to help more museums and institutions create new mission-directed recurring revenues to make them more sustainable.”
The Foundation is the primary steward of Wright’s headquarters and intellectual property, though a number of other organisations play a role in the continued preservation of his work.
These included the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy, which holds easements on some of the buildings. Recently, the conservancy issued complaints over the selling off of a Wright-designed skyscraper in Oklahoma.
The photo is by Andrew Pielage.
