Critic, curator and educator Aaron Betsky has been announced the new dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Betsky will assume his role immediately, taking over responsibilities regarding the School’s academic programs, personnel, students, finances, and character, as well as relations with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s broader programs.
“I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to continue the work that for so long made Taliesin into a workshop for reinventing American architecture,” said Betsky. “I look forward to continuing its traditions and making the School into the best experimental school of architecture in the country.”
Betsky's appointment comes at a critical time, as Taliesin is at risk of losing its accreditation should the school fail to raise two million by the end of 2015. Read on to learn more.
According to a statement released by the Foundation, Betsky will focus on strengthening the school’s academic and financial resources, while working with the Foundation to build on Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy at both Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Taliesin East in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Trained as an architect at Yale University, Betsky has become world renowned as a “significant voice in contemporary architecture and visual culture." Throughout his career so far, he has authored a dozen books and thousands of articles on art, architecture, and design. He has also taught architecture for over three decades, currently holding a position at the University of Cincinnati. "In 2008, Betsky was the Director of the 11th International Architecture Biennale Venice, and in 2015 he is co-directing the Shenzhen Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism while completing books on modernism and Urban Think Tank. Most recently, Betsky was Director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, where he revived the institution and renovated its building while raising over $80 million and attracting record attendance."
“We sought a Director who, like Wright, relishes invention, challenge, and discovery; someone who is excited to chart architecture’s next frontier; a person who in a time of conformity understands the beauty of idiosyncrasy; a leader who is ready to speak enthusiastically and persuasively to a profession in need of direction. It is clear to us that Aaron is that person,” stated Maura Grogan, Chair of the School’s Board of Governors.
News via the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
