The Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum Falls

The Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum (FLWVM slurl) reopened on November 20, 2009 with a successful three-day event. The celebration included live music, a silent auction, discussion, a members only ball and fireworks. The museum itself, inspired by Wright’s design of the Unity Temple in Chicago, includes two floors of exhibits with detailed notecards and a theater on the third floor. Farther back on the sim features five homes designed directly, and with braggable accuracy, after some of Wright’s work.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum Help Desk

FLWVM offers a variety of scheduled lectures, guided tours, live music events and competitions to its members. The museum holds four timed “build-off” competitions a year, the next coming up in February. The contests have thus far featured Wright’s own style and the Craftsman style. FLWVM Assistant Director Rosalie Oldrich updated me on the upcoming contest. “We provided a couple of classes ahead of the build-offs [before], and will do the same in February, when we will have building in the Usonian style – an invention of Mr. Wright’s. Typically American, meant for middle-income folks.” (All are invited to the classes, but entry fees apply to the contest itself.)

The Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum logo

2010 is shaping up to be a busy year for this museum. In addition to FLWVM’s exciting agenda, a Museum Hop is in the works for February 2010. Oldrich reveals, “We will join with 5-6 other SL museums/galleries for an afternoon when we will all be offering special tours, a small gift for each visitor, a big sign at each site with the LMs for all the participants, and we’ll end up with a dance at FLWVM at the end of the day. A good way to introduce people to the variety of museums in SL!”