January 19, 1995: Vol26n13: Executive director, curator named for Darwin Martin House restoration 

By PATRICIA DONOVAN
News Bureau Staff
An executive director and a curator have been named to oversee the
full restoration of the Darwin Martin House complex, which ultimately
will be operated as a house-museum, the first 20th-century property in
New York State's historic-site system.
	The Darwin Martin House is internationally recognized as one
of the best examples anywhere of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's
enormously influential "Prairie Style" of modern residential
architecture.
	The restored property will be operated by the Martin House
Restoration Corporation (MHRC) in cooperation with the UB and the New
York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
	Robert Kresse, chair of the MHRC, announced the appointment of
Mark R. Hursty, a businessman with extensive experience in financial
planning, as executive director of the MHRC. Kresse also announced
that Jack Quinan, nationally recognized art historian and Frank Lloyd
Wright scholar, will serve as curator of the complex. Quinan will
continue as professor and chair in the UB Department of Art History.
	"The appointment of Hursty and Quinan," said Kresse,
"completes the first stage of acquisition and organization necessary
for the development of the Martin House project.
	"We are now able to move forward on all fronts to facilitate
the full and proper restoration of the Martin House complex, a project
whose completion will ensure the property's role as the keystone of
Western New York's architectural tourism industry."
	Hursty will plan and manage the major fund-raising campaign to
raise the $10 million needed to complete the restoration.
	Monies raised will fund the full restoration of the
residential complex, which includes the Martin House, its pergola,
conservatory, garage/stable and the George Barton House, built for
Martin's sister and her family. A Wright-designed gardener's cottage,
part of the original site plan, is now privately owned and adjoins the
property.