Museum group honors Kimbell operations manager

Nancy J. Bechtol, President IAMFA, Larry Eubank and Alan Dirican, Treasurer IAMFA. (Courtesy photo)

Larry Eubank, operations manager at the Kimbell Art Museum, has received the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Museum Facility Administrators. The award is presented to an individual who has made exceptional contributions to the state of design, construction, operations and/or maintenance of cultural facilities. The award was presented on Sept. 26 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

In his 48 years at the Kimbell Art Museum, Eubank has played a role in all of the museum’s architectural achievements. As a young man, he worked on the construction of the 1972 Louis I. Kahn Building. Later, as the Kimbell’s operations manager, he collaborated with renowned architect Renzo Piano and an international team of professionals in development of the critically acclaimed 2013 Renzo Piano Pavilion. In addition, Eubank has coordinated multimillion-dollar renovation and infrastructure upgrades to the Kahn building to improve efficiency and decrease energy consumption while maintaining the architectural integrity of the original structure.

“I could not be more thrilled that the International Association of Museum Facility Administrators is recognizing Larry Eubank with a Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Eric M. Lee, the Kimbell’s director. “Larry has been the utmost professional. He has shepherded Louis Kahn’s masterpiece, and, more recently, Renzo Piano’s companion building into the present, keeping the buildings up-to-date with historic preservation ever in mind. Larry has long had the respect and confidence of all who treasure the Kimbell. And I can say without hesitation that no other living person knows more about Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum as a building, with all its mechanics and inner workings, than Larry.”

Eubank is responsible for daily operations of the two Kimbell buildings totaling 202,000 square feet, a 135-space underground parking garage, a 6.5-acre parking lot and about 14 acres of landscaped property. He oversees and collaborates on the design and installation of permanent collection objects as well as international traveling exhibition displays.

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Eubank has also served in prominent volunteer positions in his hometown of Weatherford, in Fort Worth and in national organizations. In 1997, he co-founded the Fort Worth Cultural District Facilities Council and became its first president — a position he holds again today. In 1989, he consulted on the design, development and installation of the Fort Worth Zoo Gallery Building and in 2006 on the James and Dorothy Doss Heritage and Cultural Center in Weatherford. He was appointed to the City of Fort Worth Landscape Steering Committee in 2001 to consult on the beautification of several high-profile streets surrounding the Cultural District. He is a past president (2003 to 2006) of the International Facility Management Association, Museum/Cultural Institution Council.