10/06/2026
Two visionary men. One desert camp. Inspiration for a lifetime. Our newest exhibition, “Ocatilla: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Lost Desert Masterpiece,” premiers at the Chandler Museum on Oct. 27, 2026 through Feb. 7, 2027.
In 1929, architect Frank Lloyd Wright constructed a camp to learn about life in the desert and find inspiration for his upcoming project—a resort Dr. Chandler had spent a decade envisioning. Wright named the camp “Ocatilla.” Here, Wright and his draftsmen experimented with ways architecture could respond to the desert’s beauty and its constraints.
The camp quickly vanished, but the ideas did not. Explore the desert camp that was a testing ground for ideas that fueled Frank Lloyd Wright’s work for decades and that prompt questions about how we can sustainably live in the desert today.
