As a child, Dan Erdman (’80, Exec MBA’99) attended regular Saturday night soirees at Taliesin, the fabled Spring Green home of legendary Wisconsin architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s where his father, the famous Madison builder Marshall Erdman, would chat and strategize with his older friend and mentor.
Now, more than half a century later, Dan is honoring the legacy of his family’s connection to Wright by endowing the first-ever Frank Lloyd Wright Professorship in Modern American Architecture in the UW–Madison Department of Art History. The inaugural recipient of the position is Anna Andrzejewski, a professor of vernacular architecture and former chair of the department.
“I am really the beneficiary of my father’s good fortune, which has allowed me to establish this Wright professorship,” says Dan. “Wright is a native Wisconsinite, and I thought it would not only be appropriate, but essential that the University have a professorship in Wright’s name that is dedicated to Wright and modern American architecture.”
Marshall first met Wright in 1949, when he was chosen to be the general contractor to build the First Unitarian Meeting House in Madison’s Shorewood Hills, one of Wright’s most well-known and respected projects. At the time, it was a big get for the small-time home builder, who was a mere 27 years old.
“It had a really great design, and it nearly broke him in the process,” recalls Dan. “But he did survive, and his company survived, and really for the rest of his life, he always credited Frank Lloyd Wright for launching his career and for the tremendous success of his company.”
Marshall Erdman & Associates went on to grow into one of the country’s leading design-build firms of health care facilities nationally. Wright, who often called Marshall “Baby,” as a term of endearment, worked with Erdman to design three prefabricated homes in Madison that Marshall built in the 1950s. Wright died in 1959 after building a legacy as one of America’s most famous architects.
Dan, who enjoyed a successful career in real estate development after working for his father’s company, earned a bachelor’s degree in art history at UW–Madison almost by accident.
“By the time I had to declare a major, I added up all my credits, and I had more credits in art history than any other department,” he says. “And that was mainly because I loved art history classes, and I took all of the architectural history courses, particularly with Professor Narciso Menocal.”
Dan eventually earned a masters degree in architecture from the University of Illinois. As an adult, Dan has maintained a connection to the Wright Family, as well as Taliesin and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation — another driver of his decision to endow the professorship.
Andrzejewski will hold the Frank Lloyd Wright Professorship for a period of three years.
“I’m honored to be the first holder of this professorship, which I see as a tribute to the strength of architectural history here at Madison, which goes back generations,” says Andrzejewski. “What excites me most about this is continuing in the footsteps of my predecessors.”
Andrzejewski cites professors such as Menocal and emeritus professors William Tishler and Arnold Alanen.
“There’s a history that this professorship honors,” she says. “At the same time, it opens up new possibilities for engaging with the public and connecting students with the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, and the issues he engaged with his work, including affordable housing, buildings designed for the community and architecture that is sensitive to environmental considerations.”
In addition to teaching an upper-level undergraduate course on Frank Lloyd Wright focused on his work in Madison, Andrzejewski plans to use her new position to study several other Wright-related research topics, including the work of Wright’s students, the school that he founded at Taliesin and Wright’s work on sustainable architecture.
“It’s really connecting Wright, putting Wright in a context, and seeing his work not just as exceptional, but as responsive to his time,” she says.
Longer term, Andrzejewski is also planning a project that will look at Frank Lloyd Wright in Madison, an examination of the impact of the 1988 exhibit at what was then the Elvehjem Museum of Art that served as a catalyst to remind the public of the architect’s deep connections with the city.
“That show was a catalyst,” she says. “It got people looking at him in a new way, and interesting people such as Tommy Thompson, Marshall Erdman and Paul Soglin seized on the show to galvanize interest and get Monona Terrace built and get Taliesin preservation organized.”
The creation of the Frank Lloyd Wright Professorship in Modern American Architecture coincides with the celebration of the Department of Art History’s 100th Anniversary. The department is hosting a series of symposia and a public open house on Sept. 24-26 at the Chazen Museum of Art. Learn more about Art History’s 100th Anniversary event schedule here.
“The Frank Lloyd Foundation couldn’t be more excited to support this initiative,” says Jennifer Gray, vice president and director of the Taliesin Institute. “We are deeply appreciative of Dan Erdman’s support. We already have been working with Professor Andrzejewski to bring UW–Madison students to Taliesin for immersive experiences with architecture and landscape. With Dan’s generosity, we are looking to build our partnership to include residencies, internships, joint research projects, exhibitions and more with the goal of providing students the richest possible education on Wright and modern American architecture and how it connects to contemporary questions on the built environment.”