Frank Lloyd Wright and Native America

We are avid Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiasts, so when I read the only "skyscraper" he ever designed was nearby, we took advantage of the sunny morning to explore countryside towns.

The Price Tower Arts Center is a 19 story structure of glass and copper, dubbed the "tree that escaped the crowded forest", is in Bartlesville, north of Tulsa. Closer up you can identify the well-known features of a FL Wright design, such as corner windows, straight lines, references to nature, and on this building the sculpted copper's rich green patina, giving it the tree like identity. The town is the home of Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips 66 Petroleum Company. Oklahoma's first oil well was drilled in 1897 in what is now Johnstone Park. This small city boasts other interesting architecture as well as a charming downtown, with it's collection of painted and decorated bison.

We also stopped in Nowata to see the Native America Mural painted by Woody Crumbo in the lobby of the 1939 Post Office, and meandered through Oologah, the birthplace of Will Roger. I was surprised to learn the world famous comedian/showman was a Cherokee!