Avery Coonley

Avery Coonley was an American arts patron and philanthropist whose significance in art history derives primarily from her role as a major patron of Frank Lloyd Wright, commissioning the celebrated Avery Coonley House in Riverside, Illinois (1908), which Wright considered one of his finest works. Beyond architecture, Coonley was deeply engaged with progressive education and the Arts and Crafts movement, supporting artistic endeavors that aligned with her reformist social values. Her collaboration with Wright also produced the Coonley Playhouse (1912), notable for its extraordinary stained glass windows featuring geometric patterns of balloons, flags, and confetti, now considered masterpieces of decorative art.