Spanish artist Felix de la Concha fretted over whether to accept an invitation to paint Fallingwater a few years ago. He admired the Frank Lloyd Wright house but wondered what he would bring to interpreting it. "It's one of the most photographed buildings in the world -- it's an icon," he said at the time.

Mr. de la Concha succeeded dramatically, and his work was exhibited on site in 2007.

Artists again have responded to the famed structure, and their works can be seen in Associated Artists of Pittsburgh at Fallingwater, an exhibit in the Visitor Center Gallery at the house through Aug. 31.

Associated Artists of Pittsburgh is celebrating its centennial year with activities that include more than 70 exhibitions. President Kathleen Zimbicki had the idea to extend the commemoration to the internationally applauded and locally beloved Fallingwater, and the staff there genially agreed to partner.

From the opening to the close of the 2009 Fallingwater season, AAP members were given unlimited free access to the grounds, including on Wednesdays when the site is closed, said Susan Sparks, AAP vice president and centennial exhibitions co-chair. All of the displayed artworks were either created at Fallingwater or from research completed there during the past year.

Ms. Sparks, one of the exhibiting artists, first visited Fallingwater when she was in the fifth grade.

"When you come here, there's a sense of calm," she said, standing before her mixed media "Lichen #1" and "Formations #1," harmonious compositions of details of the landscape that is so integral to the building's mystique.

Perhaps what stands out most is that these artists, with eyes attuned to beauty and discovery, were drawn to the same things that must have originally attracted the Kaufmann family. Each piece of art -- Kitty Spangler's painterly "Bear Run Rocks"; Bill Zarvis' whimsical glass, wood and stone untitled sculpture; Adrienne Heinrich's "Art Lives," formed of moss, copper and soil; Tiffany Whitfield's macro photograph of "Just Another Plant on the Wall"; and Ruthanne Bauerie's altered photograph, "From the Path" -- speaks to the land, bringing varied components to the visitor's attention.

Akiko Kotani, known for the delicacy of her silk markings on organza, dark upon light, exhibits four petit pen-and-ink drawings of "Rhododendrons," representational of the woodland shrubs but also exercises in the relationships between positive and negative space.

The house does appear, generally obliquely, in two admirable treatments of the guest house pool: David Sparks' photograph, "Reflecting Pool," and Benjamin Thomas' painting, "Guest Pool Reflections." Wright's design elements inspired Jay Ressler's staircase photograph, "Cantilevered Shadows." Cynthia Cooley's paintings, "Spring Green" and "Spring Shadows," one of which shows the house atypically from above, insinuate its subtle integration into the environment through compositions that flow around the canvas edges.

Peggi Nero Habets painted AAP artists Benjamin Thomas and Robert Bowden working against an expanse of Bear Run and shadowed trees, with only a hint of the house in the foreground. Her watercolor "The Forest for the Trees" won an award.

"Then (c. 1964) & Now (2009)," a mixed media piece, combines a photograph of Fallingwater made by Emil Burak in the 1960s, the camera it was taken with, and a photograph taken last year by Emil's nephew, Timothy Burak, from the same spot. That spot is now closed to visitors, but Timothy, an AAP member, was given permission to photograph from it to complete his concept.

Approximately 150 artworks were submitted, and 55 were chosen by jurors Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater director and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy vice president, and Justin Gunther, Fallingwater curator of buildings and collections.

Half of the selected works hang in this exhibition. The others will be shown in a second installment that opens with a reception Sept. 11 and continues through Nov. 2. All of the works are for sale, ranging in price from $100 to $4,000.

The Visitor Center Gallery at Fallingwater is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. An $8 per person admission includes a Fallingwater grounds pass. Advance tickets are not required to see the exhibition but are required to tour the house.

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