Smithsonian's lead design consultant to work with UW on new American Indian Center

Johnpaul Jones

From a UW press release:

Johnpaul Jones, lead design consultant for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, has contracted to work with the University of Wyoming American Indian Studies Program to develop a project profile for a proposed American Indian center on the UW campus.

Jones' work with UW is partially supported by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.

Jones will visit UW Feb. 21-24 to meet with project stakeholders and begin gathering information for the project profile.

"We are pleased to have an internationally known Native American architect working with us on this project," says Judith Antell, director of the American Indian Studies Program. Jones' tribal affiliation is Cherokee-Choctaw.

The proposed center would house the American Indian Studies Program as well as provide space for cultural events and a research institute.

Jones is a founding partner of Jones & Jones, an architectural firm in Seattle. Some of his other notable projects include the Southern Ute Museum and Cultural Center in Ignacio, Colo., which opened in 2010; and the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, N.M.

For more information, call the American Indian Studies Program at (307) 766-6520.