We cultivate ideas that sustain community – people living in harmony with one another and their environment.

We pursue this mission through Wingspread conferences, small meetings of thoughtful inquiry convened in an atmosphere of candor and purpose.

Our strategic interests are Education, Sustainable Development and Environment, Democracy and Community, and Family. We also seek to advance the arts, help those with disabilities, and enhance the future of Racine and southeastern Wisconsin.

Wingspread was built in 1939, in Racine, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright designed Wingspread for the family of H.F. Johnson, Jr., who lived there from 1939 to 1959. In 1959, Mr. Johnson established The Johnson Foundation, designating Wingspread as its educational conference facility.

Conferences are held in both Wingspread and an adjacent building, “The House,” where H.F. Johnson, Jr. and his wife resided from 1959 to 1978. The House has more ample seating than any room in Wingspread; it also has an audio recording studio.

The Karen Johnson Boyd Building houses the Foundation offices.

Over the years, the Foundation has sponsored thousands of conferences on issues ranging from arms control to education to sustainable development, and much more. National Public Radio has its roots in a Wingspread conference, as do the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous other organizations and movements. Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and Eleanor Roosevelt top the long list of distinguished conference participants.

Our on-site Guest House for conference participants was completed in January 2002.