Currently booking private events for 2026 and 2027, including holiday parties. Click here to learn more.
On Saturday, June 6, Taliesin welcomed visitors for A Day at Taliesin, a full day of tours, activities, and community programming across the property.
Guests arrived to a site in motion. Some joined tours while others set off on a self-guided route that connected Hillside School, the Kitchen Garden, an apprentice-designed cottage, and exterior views of Tan-y-Deri and Midway Barn.
A scavenger hunt encouraged visitors to move between locations, turning attention toward details that are easy to overlook: carvings in wood, details high and low, the relationship between a building and the landscape around it.
As guests turned in their responses for a prize, we several thoughtful haikus. Turns out, there were quite a few poets among the crowd! Take a look at the submissions:
The Kitchen Garden remained open throughout the day, with presentations offered at regular intervals. Visitors walked among the beds, learned about seasonal planting and maintenance, and saw firsthand how the garden continues to function as a working part of the site.
At Hillside, tours focused on the building’s history and its role within the Taliesin Fellowship. In the Drafting Studio, visitors settled in at activity stations.
At one table, guests tackled classic geometry puzzles: they assembled a triangular pyramid from tactile puzzle pieces, arranged seven shapes into a square or imaginative designs using a tangram, and attempted the deceptively difficult T-puzzle, constructing a perfect T shape from four angled pieces.
An origami station invited participants to transform sheets of paper printed with Frank Lloyd Wright patterns into intricate folded forms, exploring the relationship between geometry, structure, and design in celebration of Wright’s 159th birthday.
Another station encouraged visitors to create nature abstractions. Participants traced botanical images onto transparencies in black ink, then flipped and colored their designs with vibrant markers. The finished pieces, resembling stained-glass leaves and flowers, offered a colorful take-home reminder of nature’s patterns and forms.
AIA Wisconsin presented a LEGO building table, where guests explored architectural ideas through hands-on design and play. Throughout the afternoon, the Drafting Studio buzzed with conversation, concentration, and discovery.
Outside, Wild Rumpus Circus hosted a hands-on “try-it” stationwhere guests experimented with circus skills. Nearby, their Wright-inspired clown mingled with visitors while a custom-painted cornhole inspired some friendly competition.
Flow the Fish, presented by Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway, also made an appearance, offering visitors an opportunity to learn about the ecology of the region and the waterways that help define it.
Our team at Riverview Terrace Café prepared pre-ordered picnic boxes, while barbecued burgers and brats were available for purchase on site throughout the event. Picnickers spread out across the grounds.
By late afternoon, attention shifted to Hillside Theater, where Nelson Graham, joined by Johnny Widdicombe and Mark Hoskins, performed a program of Americana folk music and original compositions. As the audience gathered inside, the pace of the day slowed. Conversations quieted. The theater filled.
Thank you to everyone who spent the day with us. We are also grateful to our event sponsors Jewell Associates Engineers, Dodgeville Area Chamber of Commerce, and Kraemer Brothers, whose support helped make programming across the site possible.
