For immediate release

Public Invited to Meet the Artists of Fallingwater: A Place for Renewal
on Sunday, April 22

(Pittsburgh and Mill Run, Pennsylvania, April 3, 2007) – The award-winning Barn at Fallingwater showcases the photographs of Dr. Stephen Y.  Lai and woodturnings of Tom Obourn, April 10, through June 10, 2007. 
Fallingwater: A Place for Renewal focuses on art, architecture, and nature as healing presences in our lives. Each artist spent hours on site during different seasons to give us tangible reminders that Fallingwater is a dynamic place that continuously renews itself. On Sunday, April 22, visitors will have a chance to view the exhibition and meet the artists at a free-to-the-public reception from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Barn at Fallingwater.

Photography has been a constant in Dr. Lai’s adult life – from his native Kansas through his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, to his residency at the University of Pennsylvania.  A fellowship brought Dr. Lai to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he conducts research on the mechanisms underlying head and neck cancer.  Lai’s photographs reflect the technical precision of his training as a surgeon-scientist. 

With his lens, Lai captures the ephemeral details that embody Fallingwater.  The stones become the virtual cells that work together to create the body of Fallingwater; a fallen leaf reminds us that nature in its pure state has the power to heal, to refresh our eyes and our psyche.

With more than 35 years of horticultural work with grapes, tree fruit and vegetables and 30 years as a vineyard owner, Tom Obourn has the fortitude of a farmer and the precision skills of an accomplished woodworker. 

When it became necessary to remove the oak tree that once stood between Fallingwater’s main house and the guest house, Obourn created a collection of wooden bowls and wine stoppers from the substantial trunk and branches of the tree.  These pieces of the Fallingwater landscape have been transformed into the realm of art. “For years, we looked for an appropriate use for the wood and are so pleased with the care and attention Tom Obourn has given these one of a kind pieces,” says Lynda Waggoner, Vice President and Director of Fallingwater.

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh, Fallingwater was meant to be a place for renewal.  Through the art of Lai and Obourn, it still is.
 

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Interviews with the artists are available by contacting Jack Rowley at 412-586-2372.

To download images: www.paconserve.org/pressroom/renewal

Exhibition Hours
The exhibit will be on view Tuesdays – Sundays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., April 10t through June 10, and will be open to the public free of charge.

Directions
The Barn at Fallingwater is located on the Bear Run Nature Reserve on PA Route 381, between Mill Run and Ohiopyle, just ¼ mile north of the Fallingwater entrance. Free parking is conveniently located behind the facility, and can be reached via the entry drive for Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s Bear Run Nature Reserve.

Additional Information
For general information on the Barn, Bear Run Nature Reserve, or to purchase Fallingwater tour tickets,  telephone 724-329-8501, or visit www.fallingwater.org

                                                                        
About Fallingwater and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy:
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) preserves Fallingwater®, the masterpiece home designed in 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Edgar J. Kaufmann in Mill Run, Pennsylvania. In 1963, Edgar Kaufmann jr. (sic) entrusted Fallingwater to the Conservancy.  As a symbol of living in harmony with nature, Fallingwater offers a wide variety of educational programs to its more than 135,000 annual visitors.   Since its founding in 1932, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has protected more than 212,000 acres of natural lands in Pennsylvania, restored watersheds and saved natural habitats for a diversity of life and uses.  Each year, WPC also partners with 5,000 volunteers and dozens of community organizations and businesses to plant and maintain 135 gardens and greening projects in 20 western Pennsylvania counties.