Kimball Art Center Director Aldy Milliken says the board and staff spent the past eight months developing a vision for the new facility before sharing it with 12 architecture firms selected from a pool of 35 applicants.
“The board just last week reviewed the 12 and brought it down to five,” Milliken said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour,” July 20. “The board is going to decide who should come for the final sort of competitive round, which is the interview process. Answering why they're the best firm, and I mean these are extraordinary world class firms: Snøhetta, Mass Design, Michael Maltsin, Thomas Pfeiffer, and Herzog & de Meuron. Some of the firms that I would never have thought would be interested in wanting to be in a partnership with us on our new property in Kimball Junction is extraordinary.”
Milliken says the new phase will focus on determining what is financially feasible while building community support.
“We're looking at fundraising opportunities, activating donors, asking people what they think we should achieve, and really finding collaborators that can help us get over the finish line,” he said.
Milliken remains optimistic the new art center will open within the organization’s five-year timeline.
“The clock now is actually ticking, so it's under five years,” he said. “I will say that we have two years of fundraising, two years of building, and then one year for Aldy to recover. This is a very complex project. We want to get it right. We're not making mistakes. We're just being very thoughtful in how we go forward.”
Milliken also announced a new partnership with the Park City School District. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, the Kimball Art Center will help support an arts integration initiative to restore full-time art educators in the district’s elementary schools.
While the teachers will be paid by the school district, the Kimball will work with schools and educators to provide arts expertise, curriculum collaboration and hands-on learning opportunities.
