After a national search, the Kimball Art Center’s Board of Directors has named Aldy Milliken to serve as the new Executive Director. He takes over from Jory McOmber who left the center late last year.
Born in Boston, Milliken earned a Fine Art degree from Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon. He then moved overseas, living in Indonesia and Hungary, before spending 15 years in Stockholm, Sweden where he operated a contemporary art gallery.
Most recently, for the last eight years, he has served as the Executive Director for KMAC Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
“During that time, we've rebuilt the mission, renovated the institution, built a more diverse and dynamic contemporary art program and then finally last year we won accreditation,” Milliken said. “And then most recently, we were able to put on an exhibition with works by Picasso that have never been shown in the United States in conjunction with a contemporary artist named Summer Wheat. So, the last eight years has really been building up a program for the for this institution here.”
He interest in this job was piqued because he says the Kimball Art Center and Park City are at an interesting intersection... the city is behind a new arts and culture district and the Kimball is building a new art center.
“I see myself as a leader that likes to initiate transformative change,” he said. “That's what I've done here in Louisville and this project is basically done. We've got a great staff and a great board here, and a great program and so it's time for someone else to take over and take KMAC to the next level. And that means that I've been looking for another project where I can use what I've learned the past eight years and work with the community to build something pretty exceptional.”
With his experience, he says he can bring together a network of artists from across the world.
“I think people are really looking to rally around artists, especially at this sort of really complicated time in our history. And I think artists can tell us so much and my relationships to those artists will be, I think, really important as we build a program going forward.”
At this point he’s in a learning and listening phase. He has met with the Kimball staff as well as local gallery owners as he begins thinking about creating a new art center for the community...
“When I started here, I started curating exhibitions that would activate people, excite people,” he said. “I think that museums across the country, museums and art spaces across the country, really have to respond to audiences in a much different way. We can't be about preservation, preserving objects in its entirety. We actually have to find new ways to reach new generations so building on excitement, building on success, those are the things that people want to invest in and asking for money and fund raising is just sort of getting people to believe in a vision.”
Milliken starts his new job July 1st.
