Manitoga Named To 2012 World Monuments Watch Site List

Courtesy of Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center 

"...While these sites are historic, they are also very much of the present - integral parts of the lives of the people who come into contact with them every day." -Bonnie Burnham, WMF President

 

Manitoga, the 75-acre woodland garden, home and studio of industrial designer Russel Wright, was recently named one of 67 threatened cultural-heritage sites across the globe. "Receiving this designation is particularly gratifying as it will go a long way to help us restore Wright's masterpiece to its rightful condition and its place in the pantheon of mid-century modernism," remarked Manitoga Board President David McAlpin. By raising public awareness about heritage needs and concerns, the Watch program inspires local involvement and institutional investment, which in turn engages support and advances innovation and collaboration.

 

Fifty miles north of New York City, Russel Wright's Manitoga sits nestled amid the woodlands of the Hudson River Valley in Garrison, NY. Manitoga, named after Algonquin words meaning "place of great spirit," was Wright's residence until his death in 1976. (Living with Nature at Russel Wright's, an in-depth look at the property and vision behind this now threatened cultural-heritage site, is featured in the Spring 2010 issue of Modernism Magazine. To order this and any additional back issues, please visit: http://shop.modernismmagazine.com/Vol-13-No-1-M131.htm)

 

For further information on the World Monuments Watch program, visit www.wmf.org/ or Manitoga's project page at www.wmf.org/project/manitoga.