Home » Op-Ed/Letters » Reader responds to pledge request from FLLW school

Reader responds to pledge request from FLLW school

Dear Editor: 

I received a letter recently from the Frank Lloyd School of Architecture reminding me of the approaching deadline for my pledge which I had made last fall as part of their Campaign for Independence. Since many in the community stepped up and made pledges, I thought I might share my response to Jason Donofrio, FLLW’s Director of Development.  My letter is below:
 
Dear Jason,
Thank you for the update on the Globe/Miami/Taliesin project. To be honest and blunt, I have felt disappointed in how little seems to be happening and I also feel “conned” into supporting an internationally renowned school that promised so much while the only physical evidence of our partnership thus far is from the weekend of “Paint the Town.” Nice but not very much in comparison to promises of a far reaching transformation that would make us proud and be a draw for outsiders to come visit, live, and spend money.
 
The students we met last year have been replaced by seven new students this year who have spent four days in our community. There are no new physical expressions of the Frank Loyd Wright School of Architecture to be seen and next year a new set of wide eyed, inexperienced students will take their place. Of course it isn’t easy but we thought that you knew what you were doing and we believed in you. We trusted you enough to donate money, and this isn’t a community that has a lot to spare.
 
I would like to think that the school will uphold its promise to Globe and Miami with the same enthusiasm that we backed the school. I will send you the contribution that I promised in 2015 but I will not continue that contribution for the next three years if I do not see that Taliesin is investing back into our community.
 
Sincerely,
Libby Rooney

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *