One of only two museums dedicated to the art of a state, the Museum of Nebraska Art undertakes the work of documenting and collecting a state’s cultural pride. Established in 1976 by the faculty of art at the Kearney State College (not the University of Nebraska’s Kearney campus), the museum’s permanent collection reflects the full range of the history and culture of the state, from pieces created over 200 years ago by the indigenous inhabitants of the area to contemporary works. Housed in a 1911 post office original to the initial nation-wide expansion of the Postal Service, it’s collection and programing has outgrown its original home.

MAASS wrote the program in 2019, managed the design process through 2021, and is currently overseeing the construction process through completion in 2024.

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The role of the library at Smith College is hard to overstate. When reconsidering how to transform the central Nielson Library into a 21st century facility, Smith chose Maya Lin to re-envision the College’s educational heart.

MAASS was engaged by Smith to advise on the completion of various design efforts and provide oversight during the Construction Administration phase of the project. Scope included advising Smith’s internal project management team, enforcing cost control strategies, managing budget and schedule improvement strategies, implementation of complete FF&E and AV/IT packages, reporting to Board of Trustees and related subcommittees, and serving as a liaison between the Smith and Maya Lin Studio.

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The Kennedy Center, one of only six presidential memorials, undertook its first expansion in 2013, awarding Steven Holl Architects the commission to provide space to support artistic development and education programs.

Jon Maass programmed the new expansion, established the owner’s budget, managed all aspects of design team vetting, selection and contract negotiations, and managed the design process, construction manager selection, and the ongoing construction process. These efforts involved intensive engagement with all constituencies within the institution and multiple city agencies, including the incorporation of a $15M city sewer infrastructure project on the same site.

*project completed under previous employment

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When commissioning a home for his singular collection of books and manuscripts, J. P. Morgan reached out to his neighbor and foremost Beaux-Arts architect of the time, Charles McKim. In Morgan, McKim had the client of a lifetime and convinced him to employ the demanding stone carving and unforgiving construction methods of the ancient Greeks, using no mortar in the stone facade.

MAASS served as the Morgan’s in-house project director to oversee not only the first exterior restoration of the historic library, but also a campus-wide landscaping plan as well as efforts to provide greater stability to the interior climate conditions of the historic building.

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Isabella Stewart Gardner’s will prohibits any change to her museum’s permanent installation. As such, many considered it a one-visit museum. In response to this challenge, the director, Anne Hawley, established five programming cornerstones: historic art, contemporary art, music, education and landscape, which became the foundation for the program of Renzo Piano’s expansion.

Jon Maass comprehensively managed the programming, budgeting, design team selection, project design, contractor selection, construction and turn-over of the new structure, with selected preservation of the historic structure. Jon also served as primary director for the design team and construction teams comprised of 70+ consultants, vendors and builders. The project was completed on time and 3% under budget.

*project completed under previous employment

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Guild Hall is a cornerstone of Long Island’s East End’s cultural landscape. It is an institution that embraces intimacy while enjoying contrast between its modest size and the remarkable talent it presents season after season, both on the stage of the John Drew Theater and in its three art galleries. The scope of work in East Hampton includes improvements throughout the entire facility, a substantial enhancement of the theater’s technology capabilities, a complete reconstruction of Guild House, Guild Hall’s home for visiting artists, and a new landscape to bring together the expanded campus.

MAASS is helping Guild Hall determine an appropriate budget and scope of work, coordinating the design effort of the varied team, and will be overseeing the construction work beginning in 2023.

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Founded in 1891 in the City of Boston by landscape architect and open space visionary Charles Eliot, The Trustees of Reservations is the nation’s first and Massachusetts’ largest preservation and conservation nonprofit. Its mission is to preserve and protect dynamic natural and cultural sites for public use and enjoyment. In 2016 it initiated One Waterfront, the Boston Waterfront Initiative, intended to engage a larger constituency in its work to help protect fragile natural, ecological, cultural, and coastal sites. A centerpiece of this work is Piers Park III, the transformation of a dilapidated pier on the East Boston waterfront into a 3.6 acre public park, designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

MAASS is serving as the Owner’s Representative for the project, commencing work with establishing a project schedule and budget, writing a project program to guide the design work, and procuring a construction manager.

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The rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece for Solomon R. Guggenheim had suffered significant cracking and soiling since its completion in 1959. A full exterior restoration required the removal of multiple coats of paint, exposing the concrete structure to allow monitoring of its movement and analysis of the current state.

Jon Maass directed the oversight of the design process, implementation of the complex scaffolding structure, supervision of design approach for new windows and skylights, and early implementation stages of the restoration program including, repair of corroded reinforcing and subsequent concrete spalling, implementation of movement dampers to supplement improperly installed reinforcing and re-coating of entire concrete structure.

*project completed under previous employment

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SANAA’s first U.S. commission, the Art Glass Pavillion was designed to house the museum’s 25,000-piece collection of art glass as well as an extensive glass blowing hot-shop, separated only by glass walls.

Jon Maass managed all on-site construction and late-phase design. Nearly all walls are laminated, curved glass panels making coordination, detailing and construction tolerances critical. The project required close engagement with owner, contractor and design team to overcome construction and design challenges, including glass manufacturing in Germany, fabrication in China, detailing coordination with Japan and fabrication engineering in New York. Jon managed all aspects of the project budget with final completion within 0.5% of budget.

*project completed under previous employment

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The new complex for Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art and TR Warsawa Theater occupies Defilad Square, a charged site in the heart of the city, immediately adjacent to the Palace of Art and Culture (Stalin’s “gift” to people of Poland during his regime’s occupation of the country). The social interaction which results from the underlying socio-political commentary of the art is the primary driver of the programs of both institutions.

Jon Maass served as primary writer of the program for both buildings, collaborating on the development of the project budget through completion, which led to Thomas Phifer’s selection as the project’s architect.

*project completed under previous employment

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