Staffers at the Museum of Outdoor Art felt Scrooged when, at the last minute, they lost funding for an elaborate installation planned to open in a park just before Thanksgiving. Saving the day, MOA founder and executive director Cynthia Madden Leitner rescaled the show as a Winter Solstice soiree at her Greenwood Village home.Q: What inspired you to offer your home as a site?
A: Everyone on staff was so disappointed (when we lost the funding). Initially, we thought we’d build a bigger and better show for 2008, but I said, “We can’t let a year go by without practicing.” What’s at my house is truly a smattering of what we were going to do at the park.
Q: Did you pause to wonder, “What will the neighbors think?” And what did the neighbors think
A: (Laughs) One neighbor to the west wrote a note saying, “It looks like Disneyland over there. We’ve been taking pictures every night.”
Q: Designer Lonnie Hanzon has worked with MOA before, but in 2008, he’ll join your staff full time as Wizard in Residence. Who bestowed that impressive title?
A: I did. “Wizard” implies a person who can create magic, and that’s what Lonnie does with environment. The museum believes that magic is reality. Plus, I think it’s time for people to rethink their titles.
Q: Are you rethinking your title?
A: I’d like my title to be “Chief Visionary,” but I might be more like “Fairy Godmother.”
Q: And did this undertaking grant your wish?
A: Yes, because we learned a powerful new way to work, communicate and collaborate. Seven staff members worked on the installation full time for a week and a half. It took us hours and hours just to put glue on pine cones and sprinkle them with glitter. Each piece of tinsel from the ’50s had to be placed on branches. We got so much done and had so much fun. That’s the way work should be.
