ASPEN, Colo. – In 1979 the Aspen Art Museum opened its doors at the ren­o­vated Holy Cross Power Plant on the banks of the Roaring Fork River. For 33 years that facil­ity has served the mis­sion of the orga­ni­za­tion well, fos­ter­ing a pro­gram of art, dia­logue, and cre­ativ­ity that has grown into a major cul­tural insti­tu­tion serv­ing Aspen, the Roaring Fork Valley, the region, and the world.

The mete­oric growth of the museum in recent years has seen a 200% increase in bud­get, num­ber of stu­dents served, and annual vis­i­tors. A long-standing strate­gic goal for the AAM—the expan­sion of its facil­ity and relo­ca­tion to the down­town Aspen core—has become a neces­si­tated real­ity to meet the ongo­ing demand for ser­vices to the community.

With the unan­i­mous sup­port of the AAM Board of Trustees, the ini­tial fundrais­ing suc­cess, the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of Shigeru Ban as design archi­tect, and the August 2011 acqui­si­tion of prop­erty at the cor­ner of Spring Street and Hyman Avenue in Aspen, the AAM com­menced con­struc­tion in fall 2012 of a build­ing appro­pri­ate for the pro­duc­tion, pre­sen­ta­tion, and expe­ri­ence of art. The New Aspen Art Museum is 100% pri­vately funded, and under the lead­er­ship of the AAM New Building Committee, will be com­pleted within bud­get and on time for the sum­mer of 2014.

The new 30,000 sq ft museum will feature 12,500 sq ft of gallery space. The museum is an affordable tourist destination, with free admision, education workshops, films, lectures and performances; as well as breathtaking rooftop views of Aspen Mountain.

Visit the museum online to monitor the building’s progress at www.aspenartmuseum.org.

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