and building material costs. Wright jumped on the opportunity to build his tower on the plains of Oklahoma, and he nicknamed the building “The Tree that Escaped the Crowded Forest” because it had escaped the crowded “forests” of Manhattan skyscrapers and was now able “to cast its own shadow upon its own piece of land.” At the time of its construction, from 1953 to 1956, the Price Tower was the tallest building in Bartlesville. The UNESCO nomination and possible recognition places Bartlesville on the world stage in terms of iconic architectural and cultural sites. Other World Heritage sites include the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal, the Alamo and Notre Dame. “We currently have visitors every day that visit Bartlesville just to take photos and tours of the Price Tower or to spend the night in our one-of-a-kind boutique hotel,” Ambler said. “World Heritage travel groups will certainly have Bartlesville on their mustsee list once the Tower is inscribed.” The mission of the Price Tower Arts Center is to preserve Price Tower, inspire artist and audiences, and to celebrate art, architecture and design. To that end, events and exhibits planned for 2017 include a 150th birthday celebration for Wright from June to August, which will be a major exhibit about his life, career, legacy and “Journey to the Prairie.”
Other prominent, historic Bartlesville buildings On the National Register of Historic Places: • Bartlesville Downtown Historic District (includes Masonic Building, Kress Building, Citizen’s Bank & Trust Company building, Johnstone-Sare Building and many others) • C.A. Comer House, Dewey (by architect Bruce Goff) • Dewey Hotel •Lustron House at 1554 SW Rogers • La Quinta Foster Mansion • Nellie Johnstone No. 1 • Old Washington County Courthouse •The Frank Phillips Home • Memorial Hospital This fall, the tower will host a Talisman Gallery exhibit, paying tribute to the late Jody Kirberger’s art gallery in Bartlesville and which will feature art from Bartlesville area homes. Educational programming will include a kids summer architecture camp. “The Price Tower, along with our beautiful (Bartlesville) Community Center, helps define who we are as a community,” said Ambler. “The arts have always been an integral part of our culture in Bartlesville
Other buildings: • Doenges Memorial Park Stadium •Bartlesville Community Center • Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Depot •Central Middle School •Memorial Bridge • First Christian Church • Carnegie Library (now Kane, Kane, Kane & Roark law firm) • First Baptist Church • Church of Christ Scientists For more information or to take a walking tour of the “Bartlesville Heritage Trail” downtown, pick up a map at the Bartlesville Convention & Visitors Bureau, 201 SW Keeler Ave., or visit www.bartlesvilleheritagetrail.org. and Price Tower Arts Center is all about making sure the arts will always be available to every person in Bartlesville and the surrounding area.” For more information about the Price Tower, visit www.pricetower.org. Kelsey Walker is the assistant editor at the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise newspaper and holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
Art by Michaela Steinacher
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Bartlesville Magazine VISITOR’S GUIDE 2017
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