This winter and spring, visitors to Taliesin West will find a fresh layer of artistic dialogue woven into one of the Southwest’s most iconic architectural landmarks. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has announced the opening of Desert Mirror, a site-responsive exhibition by interdisciplinary artist and ASU professor Erika Lynne Hanson. The exhibition runs through May 31 and is included with the Self-Guided Audio Tour.
Part of the Foundation’s Exhibitions Artist-in-Residence program, Desert Mirror is rooted in an engagement with the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright and the desert environment that shaped his winter home. Over the course of a two-year residency, Hanson created new works spanning weaving, sculpture, and video, drawing inspiration from Wright’s principles of Organic Architecture and his Desert Masonry construction method.
“Desert Mirror transforms one artist’s experience of Taliesin West into an invitation for visitors to observe and reflect on their own relationship with the environments they inhabit,” said Niki Ciccotelli Stewart, Vice President, Chief Learning & Engagement Officer at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. “Hanson’s work explores what is seen and unseen at the site, from desert rock to contemporary infrastructure, encouraging a deeper awareness of the forces that shape how we live.”
The exhibition unfolds across five locations, including Wright’s Office, the Garden Room, Tower Fountain, Kiva, and Cabaret. Hanson’s newly created tapestries and mirrored sculptures are carefully placed in conversation with these historic interiors, creating moments of reflection that feel intimate and expansive. Complementing the physical installations, video works filmed on-site trace the journey of desert stones, echoing the apprentices who once gathered similar materials to construct Wright’s desert sanctuary.
Guests experience the full exhibition exclusively through the Self-Guided Audio Tour, encountering Hanson’s pieces as part of a layered architectural journey. The format encourages visitors to move at their own pace, exploring how contemporary art illuminates the history and ongoing relevance of a landmark that continues to inspire makers and thinkers worldwide.
On view through May 31, 2026, Desert Mirror offers an opportunity to experience an original exhibition created specifically for Taliesin West. Learn more at franklloydwright.org.
