August 19, 2020, via Zoom webinar Many consider Frank Lloyd Wright to be America’s greatest architect. His “organic architecture” helped popularize open floor plans, light-filled rooms, and connections to nature, all still in demand today. In Missouri, Wright worked with forward-thinking families to design four unique houses; he also butted heads with building authorities while constructing a controversial church. Who were these Missourians on the cutting edge of architectural design, and why do Wright’s creations remain relevant nearly sixty years after his death? This talk will help you see Missouri’s buildings with new eyes. The speaker: Kelly Johnston is a Missouri native, raised on a farm near Warrensburg. He earned degrees from the University of Central Missouri and Indiana University. He has been a software developer and a cartographer, and he taught mapping at the University of Virginia. He grew up immersed in architecture and building as he worked alongside his father, a master carpenter who built their family home. Recently retired from Virginia, Johnston and his wife moved back to Missouri, where they restored a historic home, now listed on the National Register. He leads tours of the Frank Lloyd Wright house at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and has visited 50 Frank Lloyd Wright buildings around the world.

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