The foundation that operates Taliesin West, where a visitor was killed Oct. 16 in Scottsdale, has spent about $2.2 million on building-preservation expenses across its Arizona and Wisconsin properties each of the past two years, according to an official with the nonprofit.
However, the foundation's returns filed to the Internal Revenue Service provide different figures.
"As with any homeownership, costs vary year to year depending on the needs of the property. The Foundation has a system in place to prioritize preservation work with the priority being health, safety and welfare," said Fred Prozzillo, the Nord McClintock Family vice president of preservation and collections at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, in a statement.
Windblown roofing
material broke free at the historic property before it struck and killed Brother Rogério Renato Mateucci, 55.
A photo provided to The Arizona Republic by Mateucci’s colleague, Vice Rector Vidal Martins, shows a curved, translucent panel of acrylic glass believed to be the one that hit Mateucci, lying on the ground at Taliesin West. Scottsdale Police Department Sgt. Allison Sempsis confirmed to The Republic that a piece of acrylic glass struck Mateucci.
Police and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation later confirmed that Mateucci's death was weather-related. Joseph Specter, the foundation's president and CEO, said the police determined that cause after “a thorough safety inspection of the site, including its roofing and structures."
Over the past decade, the foundation completed a few projects at Taliesin West, according to Scottsdale’s Planning Department, but no permitted projects or inspections have occurred at Taliesin West since 2023. The building has no record of reported code violations, according to Scottsdale police.
The foundation closed for the investigation into Mateucci’s death but was expected to reopen on Oct. 24 after adding weather station technology that it believed would enhance existing safety procedures.
Such technology, Specter said, was meant to assess temperatures, wind speed, air pressure and rain, giving the foundation “localized safety data” when determining its daily operations.
Specter said the foundation mourned Mateucci and offered condolences to his loved ones.
Building-preservation figures differ for historic property
Taliesin West, established in 1937, was Wright’s winter home and studio in Scottsdale. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation owns both the Arizona property and Taliesin, his home and studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Attendance at Taliesin West surpasses 100,000 people per year.
Building-preservation expenses provided by Prozzillo and those in information returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service differ. The foundation's returns reported a nearly 36% decline in those expenses across its Arizona and Wisconsin properties from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2025. Prozzillo attributed the difference to a change in the accounting methodology used in the allocation of administrative costs related to the foundation's programs, including preservation.
Using an "apples-to-apples" accounting comparison, building-preservation costs were nearly identical between fiscal year 2024 and 2025, Prozzillo said. The methodology change happened in fiscal year 2025, he said.
The foundation’s reported building-preservation expenses fell nearly 36% from $3.75 million to $2.41 million, according to the returns. Prozzillo's numbers show the costs were $2.25 million and $2.21 million, he said.
Organization-wide repairs and maintenance expenses also dropped close to 37%, from $643,982 to $407,425, according to the returns. Prozzillo said organization-wide repairs were higher in fiscal year 2024 because of a special $212,000 project completed that year to dredge the pond at Taliesin in Wisconsin.
Prozzillo said cyclical maintenance efforts are typically consistent year to year, but total expenses will vary based on the timing of special projects.
Other preservation-related expenses rose, the returns show. Spending to oversee conservation easements increased from $2.46 million in 2024 to $3.01 million in 2025. Spending from endowments supporting Taliesin conservation and preservation staff rose from $34,000 to about $140,000.
Taliesin West’s attendance rose during that period from about 101,000 visitors to 108,725, according to the filings.
Nearly $6 of every $10 the foundation spent went toward salaries, other compensation and employee benefits, amounting to $5.69 million of its $9.66 million in expenses for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2025, its information return shows.
Who was killed in the accident?
Mateucci was rector of Brazil’s Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná. He was among four university leaders visiting Arizona with a larger delegation of Brazilian university officials, said Vice Rector Vidal Martins, who traveled with him.
Martins, who did not witness the incident, said he learned what happened by phone and later went to Taliesin West. He questioned why a single piece of material came loose and whether it had been properly secured.
Republic reporter Shawn Raymundo contributed to this article.
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Rey Covarrubias Jr. is a reporter for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email him at: rcovarrubias@azcentral.com, and connect with him on Instagram, Threads, Bluesky and X at @ReyCJrAZ.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Taliesin West spending reports examined after tragic accident
