TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING
SATURDAY OCTOBER 3 &
SUNDAY OCTOBER 4, 2026
HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS
For its 25th Annual Meeting, the Walter Burley Griffin Society of America will gather in Highland Park, Illinois, on the weekend of 3-4 October 2026 (Saturday and Sunday), holding its Saturday conference at the Trinity Episcopal Church, 425 Laurel Ave, Highland Park. Saturday morning speakers include Prof. Robert Grese, who will reveal aspects of the landscape architecture of O. C. Simonds and Jens Jensen, a major figure in the development of Highland Park; Nick Williams, Principal Architect with White & Borgognoni, who will discuss his firm’s Historic Structures Report for the Stinson Library in Anna; and Prof. James Weirick of the University of New South Wales, who will help us celebrate Walter Burley Griffin’s 150th birthday. Introducing the afternoon tours, Paul Kruty will discuss Griffin’s association with Highland Park and his legacy there through the voluminous work of his first acolyte, John Van Bergen. Sites on the afternoon walking tour, many with visits inside arranged by Lisa Temkin, include work by Van Bergen, Frank Lloyd Wright, Lawrence Buck, Jens Jensen, and Henry Dubin. Sunday morning’s adventures include a visit to Wright’s 1939 Lloyd Lewis house and Lawrence B. Perkins’ estate house for Adlai Stevenson, both in nearby Libertyville.
Doors will be open at 8:00 am, with the meeting beginning at 9:00 and ending at noon. The conference fee includes coffee at registration and at morning break, lunch served at the church, and a light reception after the tours back at the church. There will be a silent auction to conclude at the church at tours’ end.
And, of course, you must be a member of the Griffin Society to register for the conference. If you have not renewed your membership, please fill out the form below.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION &
MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
Once again, please renew your Griffin Society membership for 2026. We have just raised our basic dues of $35 ($30 for seniors and students). We do need our members to renew their membership so we can continue organizing our annual meetings and publishing newsletters as well as sponsor publications and preservation project things possible. Thanks so very much. The Conference Registration and Membership Renewal form can be found here (Conference Registration Form). Please return the form with your payment to the Society. |
