Russel Wright's Studio Re-set to original appearance
Influential mid 20th Century designer, Russel Wright's studio at Manitoga in Garrison, NY is now open for public tours after extensive restoration. The Studio, adjacent to Wright's dramatic modernist home, Dragon Rock, is shown substantially as it appeared in 1962.
"The Studio was Russel Wright's private space at Manitoga where he both worked and slept," said Margaret Doyle, Co-President of Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center, who is coordinating the restoration and re-set. "While Dragon Rock was the Wright's entertainment space and provided accommodation for Russel's daughter Ann, her governess and visiting female guests, the Studio was a very spare male preserve. Using photographic evidence and extensive interviews with those who spent time there, we are aiming to give Manitoga visitors a tangible feeling for the man who introduced modern living to millions of Americans, right down to the cigarettes he smoked and the soap in his personal cedar bathroom."
Since Wright's death in 1976, most of the original contents of the Studio were dispersed to family, friends, collectors and auction houses. "Manitoga has been supported in this structural and interior restoration and re-set project by a variety of public and private donors," Doyle explains. "Principal exterior restoration was funded by the Institute for Library and Museum Services, the Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation and a NYS Legislative Member Grant. The Studio's original "green" roof was replaced with a state-of-the-art installation contributed by the Johns Mansville Company. A new climate control system was provided by the Lennox Company and radiant in-floor heating under the original hardwood floor was donated by Ultrafin."
The key support for the Studio interior restoration and re-set was a substantial grant from the Richard C. von Hess Foundation. "We have been able to assemble a highly professional team with specialized skills in restoration of the experimental modern materials and techniques Wright utilized, including early plastics and pine needle impressed plasters. Restoration Architect and Architectural Designer Michael Devonshire and Kurt Hirschberg from the firm Jan Hird Pokorny & Assoc., Inc. have led the project," Doyle noted.
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