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The Leonardo museum of art and technology will open Saturday after years of uncertainty, funding snarls, a management shake-up, construction delays, last-minute loans and even an ugly standoff with Salt Lake City's mayor.
"Yes, we are ready to open," said Executive Director Peter Giles this week as final preparations were being made for Saturday's public opening. "It's quite stirring to see the team working literally at all hours."
In 2007, Mayor Ralph Becker temporarily blocked the $10.2 million bond voters approved for The Leonardo because he was skeptical of the museum's business plan. A year later, Giles was brought in after a management shake-up that followed the Sorenson Legacy Foundation's withdrawal from a naming-rights deal that could have been worth $5 million to $8 million to The Leonardo.
Now, the mayor says he is satisfied that the museum has "sound leadership" and a more realistic plan.
"The Leonardo, in many respects, is a remarkable story — the realization of a vision that, to say the least, was in jeopardy," Becker said. "A lot of us wondered whether or not it would be successful."
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A museum's saga • When construction delays pushed back The Leonardo's opening from April to October, Giles was forced to ask the city for a loan to continue operating through the delay.
"It was to help us deal with the impact of opening six months later than we wanted to," Giles said. "We can pay it back, it's very favorable terms for a loan."
On top of the debt, The Leonardo, of course, also must raise $150,000 annually just to cover operating expenses.
"It's not easily achievable, but it is certainly achievable," Giles says. "We'll have to do our work to keep our costs down and attract as many people as possible. But we knew that would be part of the challenge."
Becker is guardedly confident also. "They have shown the ability to raise the money they needed to get this facility open. I see no reason to doubt they can continue to do it."
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Trouble ahead? • Considering the nation is still struggling through a recession that began about the time Giles became director, The Leonardo's future is anything but clear. For one thing, the delays meant The Leonardo, which should have opened in the mid-2000s, is opening barely a month before the new Utah Museum of Natural History, which will compete for similar visitors and donors, opens near the University of Utah.
But Giles sees little conflict between the two institutions' roles. "The Leonardo will be very complementary to what the Utah Museum of Natural History will be doing," he said. "Funders will find a way to make both institutions sustainable."
Giles says that despite the difficult environment for raising money, "It's also a time for breeding resolution and success. People and companies have stepped forward. At some level, it was seen as a matter of destiny. Our supporters realize the importance of The Leonardo."
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A unique institution • The Leonardo's role is hard to articulate, Giles acknowledges. Supporters say it will be a rare amalgam of museums of art, science and technology that will celebrate and spawn innovation and creativity.
"You have to experience it. There isn't anything quite like this," he says. "The Leonardo has the opportunity of being something unique on the world stage."
The Leonardo associate executive director Alexandra Hesse says many large cities have science and technology museums and almost all have art museums. But The Leonardo hopes to combine those roles into a sum that is greater than the parts.
"We are not trying to simply become a showplace for technologies," Hesse says. "We want to get people engaged and involved as informed citizens. We are trying to create a place where people can gather and engage new ideas and meet thinkers. It may sound high-flying, but that's what we are here for."
The Leo's grand opening, surprisingly, has had little fanfare. Outside of a series of countdown videos on the museum's website, the public has heard little about the belated event. Giles says the museum is relying on local media coverage and online social media to promote the opening.
"It's just the [economic] environment," he says. "We know what the value of a dollar is and you have to work very strategically in this environment to leverage what you have."
A more extensive advertising campaign will begin soon and run through the end of the month, Giles says. "We didn't want to tell people until they could act on it."
The museum is focusing on opening now, Giles says, but he expects that with success, another opportunity for a naming-rights deal is possible.
"[Negotiating naming rights] is not off the table. We are definitely open to that," he says. "For now, we just want to surprise and amaze everyone right out of the gate. We have to engage people in our story. Then, I think that opportunity will come."
Until then, Giles says, "The name The Leonardo is quite wonderful." —
What is The Leonardo?
R The long-awaited The Leonardo is a new museum on Library Square in Salt Lake City that hopes to stimulate creativity and innovation by exploring the connections among art, science and technology. It opens Saturday. The museum's centerpiece is a sculpture by architect-artist Philip Beesley that combines electronics, chemistry and synthetic materials into a work of art that senses its viewers. —
Visiting The Leonardo
P The Leonardo opens Saturday and will be open at 11 a.m. every day except Tuesday
Where • Library Square (209 E. 500 South), Salt Lake City.
More info • http://www.theleonardo.org, 801-531-9800