Johnpaul Jones

Johnpaul Jones (born July 24, 1941) is an American architect and landscape architect, partner in Seattle-based architecture firm Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects, best known for innovative habitat immersion method design of zoo exhibits. A person who self-identifies as Native American, he has also executed many projects for various Native American organizations, and was lead design consultant for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, completed 2004 in Washington, D.C. He was the first architect ever to receive the National Humanities Medal.

Education and early career Jones was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma to Welsh-American father Johnpaul Jones and Choctaw/Cherokee mother Dolores. His maternal grandfather was Choctaw and his maternal grandmother Pearl Gurley was Choctaw/Cherokee. Neither parent had more than a grade school education. His parents marriage had largely ended by the time he was 9 years old, and he and his mother moved to Manteca, California under an Indian relocation program. In Oklahoma, he had been instructed in Native American traditions by his maternal grandmother Pearl; in California (Manteca and later Stockton) he lived in a largely Hispanic environment and at times did farm work, which was his mother's occupation. Johnpaul Jones has led numerous zoo projects since that time. Among these are:

Tiger River Trail, San Diego Zoo Asian elephant house, Woodland Park Zoo Polar bear habitat, Point Defiance Zoo, Tacoma, Washington Honolulu Zoo master plan Plans and exhibits, Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum African Savannah master plan and exhibits, Perth Zoo, Perth, Australia Jake L. Mamon Gorilla Conservation Research Center, Dallas Zoo National Zoo of Belize master plan Source for list: and People's Lodge expansion, Discovery Park (Seattle) Longhouse Project, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, Palm Springs, California The Aquinnah Cultural Center Master Plan for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts The Colville Confederated Tribes Museum Master Plan, Colville, Washington The De'aht Tribal Elders Longhouse center for Makah Indian Tribe, Neah Bay, Washington The Southern Ute Museum and Cultural Center for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ignacio, Colorado The Spokane Tribal Cultural Center Master Plan for the Spokane Tribe Planning Department, Wellpinit, Washington The Tiwyekinwes Cultural Center Master Plan for the Chief Joseph Band of the Nez Perce Indians, Nespelem, Washington Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico Intellectual House, University of Washington, Seattle Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians in Santa Ynez, California Main source for list:

Diversity work Since the 1980s, Jones has been involved in increasing diversity in the architectural and design professions. With David Fukui, Tom Kubota, Mel Streeter, and Marga Rose Hancock he co-founded the AIA Seattle Diversity Roundtable. Among other things, the Roundtable organized school outreach and established scholarships at the University of Washington. He has also worked on diversity initiatives at the University of Oregon, and is involved in the American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers and the National Association of Indian Architects and Engineers.

Personal life Jones married fellow University of Oregon student Hannah Stratton in 1965. They had two children, Sequoia and Ingrid, and divorced in 1990. Jones married for a second time to Marjorie Sheldon on September 21, 1997.