Kimberly Sass (MArch ’16) Proves There’s No Single Path to Success

Recognizing a love and talent for art in high school, Sass went on to attend Colgate University, double majoring in fine art and geography as well as goaltending for their Division I women’s ice hockey team. During that time, she took an “Intro to Architecture” course, which sparked a new curiosity in her. The experience not only taught her the fundamentals of architecture but also revealed the deep connections between architectural design and her artistic instincts and interests.

With encouragement from her father with a mechanical engineering background, Sass set her sights on pursuing a master’s degree in architecture after graduation. The UB School of Architecture and Planning opens doors for aspiring architects through a master's program designed for students without an undergraduate background in the field. Drawn to this opportunity, Sass returned to her hometown of Buffalo to embark on her architectural journey.

At UB, Sass unsurprisingly found herself most at home in the studio. “I loved the energy of being surrounded by people that you could bounce ideas off of and think creatively,” she recalled. “Sketching, drawing, and modeling studio projects helped me design spatially, get a grasp of scale, and also helped me develop a fundamental skill—how to critique and be critiqued.”

She felt a particular freedom while working on her thesis project, where she had the opportunity to utilize drawing, painting, and perspective, combining her passions and using them to heighten her exploration of architectural concepts.

“UB does a great job of not putting people into boxes,” she reflected. “I gained the foundation of design thinking—breaking down problems, iterating quickly, thinking on your feet, and communicating visually through sketching—but the faculty also encouraged me to allow my passions to intersect rather than making them compete with one another.”

After graduation, Sass joined a Buffalo architecture firm while also playing hockey professionally in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), as there was not a living-wage league at the time. After balancing a full-time architectural job with her pro hockey career for 7 years (NWHL & PWHPA), Sass retired from pro hockey in 2022 and began envisioning a career that could integrate her interests more sustainably.

Today, Sass has found that balance as a project manager/owner’s rep at Legends Global, the owner’s representation group for the Buffalo Bills new Highmark Stadium construction project. Her role involves coordinating with ownership groups and a multidisciplinary design team—comprised of architects, engineers, consultants, and construction managers—to keep the budget, schedule, and scope of the project aligned while advocating for quality design. Her work is grounded in communication, problem solving, and ensuring the realization of ownership’s design intent.

In addition to that “9-to-5” role, Sass pours her creative energy into SASS STUDIO—her own artistic practice. Balancing both worlds isn’t always easy, but each offers a different kind of fulfillment.

“My construction project management work keeps me grounded in the reality of getting things built, but my studio practice gives me a creative outlet that’s entirely my own,” she explained.

She describes architecture as the backbone of her creative language, and that influence is clearly evident in her artwork. “Even when I’m painting, I think about how each layer forms, how the perspectives interact or intersect, and how bold color can define structure. I paint a lot using clean edges and lines.”

Her most recent SASS STUDIO show at Seneca One, titled “For This 716—Presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield,” featured 25 paintings of various sizes and 1 large-scale sculpture, all inspired by Buffalo’s most recognizable materials, landmarks, businesses, and neighborhoods. Taking familiar architectural elements and inserting them into compositions in unexpected ways, Sass takes the viewer on a journey of identifying iconic places within the full context of the piece.

The largest painting (48” x 72”) featured landmarks from 31 neighborhoods in and around Buffalo in hues of terra cotta. Layered on top of each other, iconic buildings pop out at the viewer—the Liberty Building, Seneca One, Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo Riverworks, the Riviera Theatre, and many, many more. Similar smaller works focused on specific neighborhoods.

“Material Paintings” each focus on one architectural element—like the oxidized cooper roof of the Richardson Olmsted campus, the scalloped gold dome of the downtown M&T Center, or the white marble of the McKinley Monument in Niagara Square—challenging the viewer to identify the context.

“I’m inspired by cities—how people move through them, the history and culture within the buildings, how architecture can carry identity,” Sass explained. “If people see an image of a building that represents their city, it adds to their sense of identity for the place.”

She’s also used SASS STUDIO as an outlet for advocacy art, shedding light on issues that are important to her. One that’s closest to Sass’ heart is gender equity, particularly in professional women’s hockey. In partnership with teams across the NHL, she has had a traveling solo show about realities of pro women’s hockey and designed special jerseys/paintings for auction, encouraging fans to celebrate women’s achievements and support related charitable efforts.

It's not lost on Sass that she’s found herself navigating three male-dominated fields at once—architecture, construction, and sports. Her biggest takeaway from this experience is the great importance of speaking up when necessary. If you don’t, nothing will change.

That commitment led her to become an AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) IF/THEN STEM Ambassador, through which she’s inspiring middle school girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

She recalls the impact of meeting young students at the Smithsonian’s IF/THEN She Can exhibit, which featured the largest collection of statues of women ever assembled. “Kids and teenagers asked us what we do for work, and it was amazing seeing their reactions. We got praise from older people too, for increasing representation in male-dominated fields. It’s something that I want to continue doing because we’ve made progress.”

Her advocacy extends to the board of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, where she’s helped implement increases in player wages through the formation of the PWHL—a long overdue victory influenced by her days as a goaltender with a full-time architecture job.

Reflecting on her journey, Sass credits UB for giving her the tools and freedom to build a career that’s authentically her own, and she encourages current students to consider this lesson too.

“Give yourself permission to pursue the things that make you unique,” she urges. “They’re probably your strongest attributes.”