Todd:
Welcome back to the podcast. We are thrilled today to have Donald Opatrny, who is the chair of the Phoenix Art Museum and has a fascinating background.
Don, thanks for being with us today.
Donald Opatrny:
It's my pleasure, Todd. Thanks for having me.
Todd:
Well, I'd love to spend some time getting to know you a little bit, for the folks who haven't had a chance to meet you. Tell us a little bit about your background. Clearly, you're in an important role here as the chair, but you've had a distinguished career, I think on the East Coast. Maybe tell us a little bit about that and what brought you to Phoenix.
Donald Opatrny:
Well, basically my background was I spent 30 years at Goldman Sachs as a partner there. Fundamentally focused on affecting change within corporations, governments and on occasions, not for profit.
Todd:
So you're an optimist?
Donald Opatrny:
Yeah, you have to be an optimist. The second component of that is we've really been focused on education and environment, so philanthropic bases. I've been involved with museums like the Aldrich out in Ridgefield, Connecticut, the Whitney, the Johnson Museum, and the Center for the Arts in Jackson, Wyoming. Maybe a message is I should show up to all the succession meetings. If you ever don't attend a meeting, the next thing you know, you may be on the board.
Todd:
Guess what? Yes. A little bit about your career. Obviously, Goldman Sachs, you were a managing partner there. But certainly, a distinguished career.
Donald Opatrny:
Well, thanks. Yeah, I've had the opportunity to really have been in a lot of areas. I was in New York, and then we were in London for a period of time. Saw substantial growth in the business in London alone. We went there, it was 60 people, and four years later, it was 1300. It was like riding a rocket ship.
Todd:
That had to.
Donald Opatrny:
I've lived in a world of change, which I find really interesting. Then, found my way to both Phoenix and to the museum, from a couple of perspectives. One, there was a lot of change going on in this community and obviously was in the museum. Then, I've been quite active in not for profits. I've actually been on 15 not for profits, I had to count for this little meeting, over the course of time. In 12 of those, I've wound up in some kind of leadership meeting. Once again, I should be sure to show up to all the meetings, or that kind of thing can happen. Then, we're very focused on arts ourselves. We collect. My wife paints, most importantly. It really was in sync with our interests to ultimately migrate to the museum.
In terms of coming to Phoenix, we were up in Jackson Hole and it gets cold in the winter.
Todd:
Yes, it does.
Donald Opatrny:
People up there always ask, "Isn't it hot in Phoenix?" I always say, "120 degrees is hot, but minus 30 hurts." That's part of our migration here.
Todd:
I guess, interesting that you should talk about this idea that you were a leader. Clearly in the business community, at Goldman and other places, but you also have a servant leadership component to your personality. I think one of the things we hear from leaders is, "Well, I'd like to get involved but I'm kind of busy." I'm assuming you were pretty busy at Goldman. How did you make that work? Or why did you make it a priority?
Donald Opatrny:
Well, I've always ... It was probably within my parents were instilled, that you had an obligation. They were immigrants and that you had an obligation to the community as well as to yourself in how you plan what you did over time. I enjoy it. I find it fascinating.
The second comment I would make is I think that there's been a tremendous change in not for profits over time, where to some extent, they were passive or it was easy. As I tell all the organizations I'm with, being a not for profit is now a deadly serious business. I found more and more, what I learned and executed at Goldman Sachs was applicable to these institutions. 20 years ago, maybe not so much, but they are very much on par on all the challenges the businesses in the Phoenix and Arizona community experience.
Todd:
So choose your board wisely, if you're a nonprofit leader.
Donald Opatrny:
Choose your board wisely and don't hesitate to change that. We've moved it. I've made a comment that I'm now too old to change people. I think that there is an evolution in Arizona, I would be so bold being an Easterner originally, that people are feeling more and more of the responsibility. I would say there used to be a day where you were on a board so you could tell your neighbors you were on the board and that was pretty much it, and attend some meetings. Now, we actually give responsibilities to every board member. Everyone at the Phoenix Art Museum not only knows what committees they're on and what they're meant to accomplish that year, but every single person has a particular area that they need to respond to and be active in.
Todd:
It's a dynamic process for the board as well.
Donald Opatrny:
It's constantly. Even to the point that, every summer, I have a phone conversation with every board member to discuss how the museum's doing and how they're doing, as you would in business.
Todd:
Absolutely. Before we move off the topic of Don, tell us something about yourself that maybe people don't know.
Donald Opatrny:
What people probably don't know is that we not only collect contemporary art, but we're quite active in collecting Czech and European avant-garde photography, black and white.
Todd:
Where did that come from?
Donald Opatrny:
Well, that comes from my background was Czech. My name actually means, "careful, cautious, or one who looks after others," in Czech. After a number of years of not being able to get in because of familial history, we got in and became really just enticed by the nature of the photography. We've collected this over a number of years, we lend to museums all over the world. It's been a wild, wild trip so it's been great fun.
Todd:
I'm assuming you've been back to the Czech Republic?
Donald Opatrny:
Many times.
Todd:
Yeah.
Donald Opatrny:
Many, many times.
Todd:
Well, Prague's certainly a beautiful city but there's a lot more to it as well.
Donald Opatrny:
Yes, and it's still evolving. It's interesting how Communism still has some history. At Speak, it's going to be very interesting, the museum is featuring a new show coming in called Multiple Realities, which is about art in the Eastern Block with the Communist regime. There's a half-life to all this but it carries on.
Todd:
Absolutely. When we visited, I think it was really interesting to see a very post Communist type society that was really still rooted in the voice of America and everything they went through after the Cold War or during the Cold War. But certainly, moved on, but then we went and actually took a train trip. When we got to the train station, we felt like we were in the Eastern Block again, those holdovers from Communism.
Donald Opatrny:
I'd make two comments. It's interesting how the population isn't aware of a lot of the history. They're not familiar, for example, with this photography that's world-class. Then, it's also interesting how, when you study elements of that, it's a study of history and how history repeats itself.
A couple years ago, we brought down some photographs from 1968 that a photographer took when Russia entered Prague in 1968. While it's on our shelves showing, obviously the Ukraine happened. History does repeat itself. It's interesting.
Todd:
It's fascinating watching the debate in Congress and juxta positioning that with, for instance, those pictures, correct?
Donald Opatrny:
Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
Todd:
Well, excellent. What a surprise, what an interesting thing about your background and I think your name, as we translate it, it does lend itself to the fact that you're a servant leader.
Donald Opatrny:
I enjoy it. I get sustenance from that activity.
Todd:
Talk to us about your role, then. Clearly, you're the chair. What does that mean at the Phoenix Art Museum?
Donald Opatrny:
At the Phoenix Art Museum, there are two dynamics to what's occurred. The Phoenix Art Museum had a long history, it had a director for 41 years.
Todd:
Good thread.
Donald Opatrny:
That went through a period of transition, which inevitably has some bumps along the road. It's been a combination of affecting change, making sure that we have a strategy of where we're going. But very important is to build a divide. I have a fantastic relationship with the executive director there, who's outstanding. We don't agree on everything, we'll argue some points.
Todd:
And that's okay.
Donald Opatrny:
But when it comes to managing the museum, he's the ultimately arbiter on that. My responsibility is the governance and fiduciary responsibilities, as well as the outreach into the community. That's, to some extent, how we bifurcate the responsibilities. It's important that the board be active and be advocates to the museum, but you don't want them mucking around in the management of the museum itself.
Todd:
That does have a tendency to happen in nonprofits, where that line starts to get blurred. It's important to have a chair that sets that tone with the management to say, "This is what we do."
Donald Opatrny:
I would believe so, amongst any business. Can you imagine if your board starts mucking around with various sides or divisions, and what have you? That's problematic.
As I said, as the not for profits and the for-profit institutions become more and more similar, I think these same paradigms apply.
Todd:
Absolutely. You obviously came here not really knowing a lot about Arizona, wanting to maybe come to a warmer climate, but you could have gone anywhere. What was it about the Phoenix Art Museum that made that unique and a place where you wanted to spend some time?
Donald Opatrny:
The museum itself was undergoing significant change and that's of interest to me. I don't tend to like to be on boards where all I'm doing is writing a check and attending meetings, I like to be involved where we're affecting and improving the institution. There was an opportunity to do that.
I also think that the environment is changing rapidly. The challenges that exist being in the fastest growing city in the United States, which is now the fifth-largest metropolitan area, are significant and with it come challenges, come problems and become where our role in the community, broadly speaking, can be really helpful in building this community looking forward.
Todd:
Clearly, you have a sense for the art community and you've served in numerous positions within that community around the country. What makes the Phoenix Art Museum unique from your perspective?
Donald Opatrny:
I think the museum is unique maybe in three particular regards. I would break it into how do we sit in the broad environment, and then what do we do locally, and then the particular characteristics.
As I just mentioned, we're sitting in the fastest growing area in the United States. That's a unique, unique differentiation, incredible change going on. And yet at the same time, we don't have any tradition of industrialists that left us huge collections or huge endowments that you tend to find out on the East Coast.
Todd:
The Rockefellers.
Donald Opatrny:
Yeah. There were no Rockefellers here, really. Air conditioning didn't exist in that era. As a result, we have different challenges. At the same time, on a national scale, we have a collection of over 20,000 pieces. Within that, we have one of the strongest collections of fashion, Asian art, Latin American art, contemporary is a significant element, our relationship with the CCP for photography. We have a presence above our weight.
Todd:
Okay.
Donald Opatrny:
On that perspective, we're very, very differentiated.
Then locally, I think we are different in that, one, we're entirely focused on art. I think a lot of not for profits will tend to stray and just do good. We've brought it back to say that has to be the core of everything we're doing. We focus on strong governance, great leadership of the museum, which I've mentioned that. It's not only Jeremy, who is the director, but the head curator was the former director of both the Hirshhorn and the Walker, and she's exceptional. We have a woman that's been with the museum for a long time whose head of advancement that's doing an outstanding job. We have a real high quality, world-class management now in place that distinguishes us.
Then, the third piece and particularly when you compare it to other not for profits, our focus has been on financial sustainability. We have to go for the longterm, so we operate at a surplus. We've actually put $2 million back into the endowment. There aren't many cultural institutions that are doing that right now.
I think all of those are differentiating characteristics out of different views.
Todd:
Oh, it sounds like, to your point, it's more along the lines of running this like a business and we're going to be sustainable.
Donald Opatrny:
Absolutely, absolutely.
Todd:
I'm curious, because you obviously are relatively recent to Phoenix. Sometimes you hear, and I hear from my colleagues in other places, that we lack some of the cultural amenities that attract people and businesses from other states here in Arizona. Do you find that to be true?
Donald Opatrny:
I think that we have the institutions, we don't have the strength within the institutions. Maybe I'm speaking a little out of place, but one of the elements that struck me when I came here and became involved with the museum, I went and met with the director and the chair of every cultural institution just to understand the environment. We've been here 13 years, but still-
Todd:
Correct.
Donald Opatrny:
There's always much to learn. The institutions here, by any national standard, are grossly under capitalized. There's not been a history, both from a perspective of philanthropy, from a perspective of civic pride, and from a perspective of, frankly, governmental support for cultural institutions and the benefit that they have to the community. Now, I think that's changing and it's changing because businesses, to get employees, need to offer these type of attractions not only to get them, but to have those employees and their families feel that Phoenix is a very good place to live and that's evolving.
Todd:
Fascinating perspective. Clearly part of that, is to what you said earlier with we didn't have industry always here. Okay, that's one side of it. Government, we tend to have more of a libertarian or conservative view of how government dollars should be spent and that's not lent itself to government support, although there have been efforts.
Donald Opatrny:
There have been.
Todd:
The middle part I think is more the business community and philanthropy. Why do you think that that seems to be lagging or has lagged historically versus other states?
Donald Opatrny:
Because I think where we are in the evolution of Phoenix and Arizona within the country. My illustration is I'm an inveterate visitor of museums all across the country. One of the organizations we're involved with is the Whitney so we tend to visit a number of cities.
Now, I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and I thought cities like Cleveland were just incredible centers of the United States. We recently visited Kansas City and St. Louis. It was incredible, the strength of the museums, the people that supported this, the civic pride. We would have lunch with a series of business leaders or politicians, legislators, and an important element to them were the cultural institutions there.
I looked up on Expedia, and Kansas City is now the 68th largest metropolitan area in the United States. I was shocked. I thought Kansas City ... I grew up thinking this is the center core of the United States, 68th. Phoenix is now the fifth largest, we've just grown larger than Philadelphia.
So we'll get there, but I think there's a gestation period, there's a development period and we still have a ways to go up the curve to establish some of those elements.
Todd:
But you feel like we're headed in the right direction?
Donald Opatrny:
I think we're absolutely headed in the right direction. Amidst a lot of change, there's huge population changes going on, there's a migration of people that are moving in from other areas, which is very well documented. With it, they bring other traditions. I think we're moving away from being just a winter habitat for these individuals. People are starting to move the majority of their lives to areas here and that changes how they look at this. Both in terms of philanthropic support, expressed interest to legislators and the like, as well as history of being involved in the culture or in the arts.
Todd:
When we focus on economic development, we focus on a number of things. Do we do a good enough job of incorporating the arts into our economic development strategy here in Arizona?
Donald Opatrny:
I would have to say no. Historically, we have not. I would make a couple comments on that front.
Right now, amongst the 10 largest cities in the United States, we're 10th in terms of the per capita support for our cultural institutions. And yet, in Arizona, the cultural activities, I think in 2021, generated roughly $11 billion of economic activity. Now there's a history here to deal with, we don't tend to have the governmental support historically that's there, so you're very, very reliant on a couple things. Basically the gate, basically individual philanthropy, and then to some extent, obviously our history of an endowment. You don't have other support that you might find in any other cities.
That's just the challenge that we face. Now once again, it's changing, it's evolving. What we need to do is take the museum the next mile, and then the next mile, as the environment here changes.
Todd:
And use those resources as part of our tools in the tool chest for bringing new businesses, new people to Arizona?
Donald Opatrny:
Well, I would think when any business solicits individual employees to move here, what's in your kit? I will tell you that one of them should be the cultural institutions. From the perspective of the museum, we think it's a business proposition. We obviously would like the support of the corporate element of Arizona, but we have to provide a value add. We're not asking for pure philanthropy, but if you support us, we can provide the various characteristics that your employees come to visit with us. We have quarterly free days, just to bring citizens into the museum. We've had as many as over 8000 people show up to this. Now from my vision, that's more than show up to most of the Cactus League baseball games, if you think about the dimension of this.
Todd:
It's a big deal. Yes.
Donald Opatrny:
There's an interest in the population here. I also think that the managerial talent and the characteristics that we're looking for are, to some extent, increasing. If you think of the focus in our strategy, we're focused what areas? Medicine. But it's not just the large hospitals, all the biotech and research dynamics that are occurring around these institutions. You think about finance, which has historically not been a big activity. It's been wealth management, but not finance proper, is happening here. Sports. There's a number of these type of areas that are central to the environment within Phoenix and Arizona that will make a difference in the quality, because they all need people. It's a long ways from the days of just being hospitality and construction.
Todd:
Yeah.
Donald Opatrny:
You need a deeper package.
Todd:
Much more holistic.
Donald Opatrny:
To attract the people. Yeah. Their education elements are different, their past work experience is different. They're coming from other metropolitan areas, in terms of the migration, where they've become accustom to the availability of lifestyle dynamics in the city. I think they will demand those of Phoenix.
Todd:
I want to focus really quick on education. You're clearly no stranger to education, you've done work there as well. There has been a lot of emphasis and a lot of focus in Arizona on STEM. Appropriately, given what we're trying to do and the companies that are coming here, that are growing here. But what about the addition of the arts into a STEM type curriculum, does that make sense to you?
Donald Opatrny:
Yes. To get to your comment, my wife and I actually, in our philanthropic activity, are really entirely focused on arts, and education and the environment. I tend to spend most of my time on arts and education. It's ranged from chairing various schools to being vice chair of Cornell University, which is a-
Todd:
Kind of a big deal.
Donald Opatrny:
A pretty interesting proxy, relative to what's happening here.
Todd:
Correct.
Donald Opatrny:
The difference is STEM is incredibly important for all those industries I've mentioned, but still the thinking process is important, the creative process is important. If you have someone that's just a fantastic coder, there's a ceiling to their capabilities. But if you have a person that has technical skills, but is broadening their perspective, their ability to think, their ability to solve problems, you have a stronger potential employee developing within the institution. At the same time, ironically, the arts are moving in the same direction. As much as AI and artificial intelligence is a big deal that everyone's addressing, ironically, some of those that are on the cutting edge are in the arts.
Todd:
Well, we could probably have a full podcast on AI and the art, I can't imagine what that's going to look like. But what I think I hear you saying is that part of the benefits of having an arts in a STEM curriculum is that it enhances critical thinking, which is something that every employer is looking for.
Donald Opatrny:
Yes. You want someone that's going to grow, not just meet a specific task, as well as the interest.
I'll also comment that the arts also has a cultural dynamic, too. To the extent if you're going to have an employee base that is growing as it's growing here, with a number of the issues, it's clearly going to be one of the first majority minority cities. How do we be sure that there is grounds for these individuals moving in here to integrate into a culture? Not that they're all alike, but they're respectful of one another, they understand the issues around those. It's institutions like the museum that offer the opportunity or the platform to afford people the chance to not only meet with other people, but to address issues in a safe place, that are central to ultimately us becoming a very constructive and positive community, rather than one of divergence, and confrontation and differences. There's a very subtle dynamic because, to the extent that's part of their experience, that they take that to their families, they take that to their community and they take that to their employer, and that's very important, I would think, in the longterm.
Todd:
Absolutely. Clearly, we have a number of arts institutions and certainly others in the area. How does the Phoenix Art Museum look at partnerships or collaboration?
Donald Opatrny:
We recently did a survey and realized that we had over 625 entities that we had some interaction in in any one year. Actually, our issue isn't to have those relationships, we actually created a committee to think through, well which ones are really important, and which ones do we want to develop over time, and which ones are really not a productive use of time and energy at this point in time, and try to narrow that down.
Those relationships are extremely, extremely important. I mentioned the type of businesses that we're trying to connect to. There's also a significant dynamic of connecting into the artist community itself. We now have a person on our staff full-time whose entire responsibility is reaching out to build and connect to the artist community. We've increased the number of awards that we have, both in terms of providing the number of awards but the value to artists because to give back to the community, to have a robust artist community in Phoenix and Arizona broadly, including within the reservations, for example, we're reaching out to is, once again, a very important aspect.
We have hired a person specifically who spends all of her time focusing on our corporate relationships, to making sure that not only are we connecting properly but we're adding a value to those corporations in the relationship.
We obviously are connecting into the other cultural institutions. We're about to have an event where we and the The Heard are coming together on something. We've always been viewed as these divided-
Todd:
Frenemies.
Donald Opatrny:
Yeah. Friendly usually neighbors.
Todd:
Yeah.
Donald Opatrny:
But we think one plus one can be three.
Todd:
Absolutely.
Donald Opatrny:
We're looking for those kind of opportunities.
Todd:
I love to hear that, the idea that this is an inclusive model and there's always room for people. Clearly, you have some strong corporate support. But what about mid-size businesses or small businesses, or entrepreneurs who say, "Hey, I believe in the arts. I want to support," what do you say to them? How can they be involved or engage?
Donald Opatrny:
We have a range of ways to engage. There are a lot of small and medium businesses. A classic example is we had the director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce meet with the board.
Todd:
Yes.
Donald Opatrny:
We regularly have guest speakers come in. It was fascinating when you look at the survey that they do, a lot of those are very small, often family businesses, but huge contributors to the GDP of the Arizona economy. The large corporations are often in lights, but the reality is you get smaller and smaller, you migrate into almost into how are you dealing with the families as well. Those are all important.
We have a range of activities. Obviously, to the extent, we have programs where corporations can join us and we can provide benefits, for example days for their employees. We provide opportunity where were have exhibitions that may relate to the corporation that we can feature them and they can help support us. A classic example, which we make speak to later, is we have the show of Barbie as an icon and demonstrating the history of fashion. Obviously there's a corporation at the center-
Todd:
Absolutely.
Donald Opatrny:
That is material to that. We also offer opportunities for the employees to gain access through special memberships. We want them to provide a basis, both to the corporate in terms of advertising, visibility, demonstration of their commitment to community, as well as benefits that they see, whether it's getting employees or supporting their employees.
Todd:
I think it's fascinating that you're thinking about this, this institution in a very holistic way. Obviously, that includes people. There's only so much space and so much time. We have fifth-largest metropolis in the country. How do you do that? How do you make sure that you're appealing to not just one part of our society in a way that you can bring people in that maybe think, "Well, I don't know that I have a place in a Phoenix Art Museum, I don't know that it represents me," how do you do that?
Donald Opatrny:
My response to you is that we watch it very, very carefully. We have a fundamental responsibility to the city of Phoenix that is central to our mission. We very carefully watch who walks in the door. What I can tell you is our visitors are almost exactly the distribution of the demographics of the population of Phoenix.
Now, our issue is more how do we reach out beyond Phoenix than it is that there one core of people that are interested. Something on the neighborhood of 40% of the people that come in the museum have family incomes under $50,000 and they're buying memberships.
Todd:
What was that percentage again, 40?
Donald Opatrny:
Yeah. Something like yeah, 40-ish, we'll say 40-ish percent. It's a broad range. The thought that this is an elitist institution-
Todd:
Correct.
Donald Opatrny:
Is something that I would combat viciously.
Todd:
It's a misnomer.
Donald Opatrny:
Well, for example we have this show on Barbie, which we've had record numbers of people come in. 65% of the people that are coming in for that show have never been to the museum before and they're bringing in the full families.
A fascinating sidebar to this is all kinds of little boys have seen the movie too, and they come in, and it's not about a Barbie show, this is a Ken show.
Todd:
Right.
Donald Opatrny:
What's the first object we sold out of in the museum store? Ken dolls.
Todd:
Well, he's an accessory.
Donald Opatrny:
Perhaps. Now at the same time, we want to be sure that we are bringing in shows and creating shows of all levels. It's important to have popular shows, it's important to have shows that support artists in the area and regionally. There's an element of just the intellectual and academic dynamics of some of the shows. We really have to have a mix, and I have to say that Jeremy and Olga, our director and our chief curator, are completely switched on to that and widely recognized for their capabilities there.
Todd:
It sounds like hitting on all cylinders. I know we had talked before we went on that you and the board, and Jeremy and company, have just completed a strategic plan, a five-year plan. Let's go out beyond that. 10 years from now, where do you want the museum to be or what's the vision?
Donald Opatrny:
We would like the museum to be a premiere regional museum with national recognition. I want to be very clear that our responsibility is to our community, to the city of Phoenix and the state of Arizona. But we want it to be an institution that also is exemplary on a number of fronts, of how we reach to the community. Governance, I'm very clear to our board that I want this museum to be an example of what not for profit governance should be about. By doing that, there's a throw weight out into the community and to other institutions.
But likewise, to some extent, Phoenix is growing from a localized city that was there to national recognition. We would like to, in effect, be central to the experience of Phoenix would be the Museum of Art.
Todd:
Do you foresee the footprint ever changing, in terms of size or getting bigger? Or maybe being more distributed throughout the city?
Donald Opatrny:
Well, not in the intermediate term, in terms of the facility. Our focus is entirely how do we better use the space, rather than add space. We're I think roughly 250,000 square feet of gallery. That's a sizeable institution in any part of the country.
Todd:
For the fifth-largest city, we're still in a good place?
Donald Opatrny:
We're still in a good place.
Todd:
Okay.
Donald Opatrny:
There are opportunities to grow, we have other needs. Parking is an issue to use. Not the most exciting issue, but if you want people to come, you have to have parking.
Todd:
True.
Donald Opatrny:
I kid that we had a legislator come meet us to discuss the issue, and she was 15 minutes late because she couldn't find a place to park. I think that that will be a dynamic ... We're actually refitting the whole interior of the museum to better use the spaces in exhibitions. We're building a new restaurant to draw people into the museum, so we're doing a number of things.
Todd:
I think we're going to be take our board. Yes.
Donald Opatrny:
Yes, absolutely. We're doing a number of things to build that, and importantly build the collection. I would say more than the building, our focus is on the collection. We spend a lot of time on planned giving, and one of the things we're doing is increasingly having conversations with people about gifting art. We have an endowment of $35 million, so we're not going to build a huge collection off of $35 million.
Todd:
It seems impossible, but it makes sense.
Donald Opatrny:
But more and more people are moving in that our collectors are familiar and we're having some terrific results there. We will be growing more, I think, programmatically and in terms of the collection than physical space.
Todd:
To that point, what role will technology/artificial intelligence play?
Donald Opatrny:
There's a big, big question. I'm going to bring in the second half of your earlier question. An issue to us is how we reach out beyond Phoenix. The reality is, if you go to North Scottsdale, or a number of areas where there's an interest and potential support, you'll hear that, "Gee, that's a long drive." How do we bridge that? I do think we will have to bridge that and I do believe that technology will be a very interesting way to do that.
We can learn a lot from what we did over the course of the pandemic.
Todd:
Agreed.
Donald Opatrny:
And to apply that. Now, a little illustration is this museum can't create huge technology platforms, but we just joined with Bloomberg Philanthropies. If you have a phone, you can come into the museum. You see any piece of art, you can see the artist speak, you can hear about the history of the piece, you can understand the history of the environment of when it's done, to make it more fulfilling. Now that type of vehicle offers an opportunity that you can start to make that space between where people live and the museum seem much, much shorter.
Todd:
Absolutely. Your own personal docent.
Donald Opatrny:
Yeah.
Todd:
To give you context for what you're seeing.
Donald Opatrny:
We have 250 physical docents that travel around to reach out. It's not in isolation, but it is important. Once again, we have a responsibility to the whole metropolitan area and we are looking at that.
Artificial intelligence is a harder challenge. As I said earlier, we see it amongst the artists. I don't think a museum like ours right now has the resources to be on the cutting edge of this. But it will be very developmental, in terms of how we stay in touch with the universe of people that we contact. We've had history of magazines going out to 3000 or 4000 people in the community. Is that the way you'll be communicating in the future? I don't think so. I think artificial intelligence will enable us to better reach out in a very targeted way so that we're communicating what is important to you individually so that you don't view us as wasting any of your time.
Todd:
Oh, it's certainly going to be fascinating to watch. But today, I love that we can go into the museum or from a distance and have that context for what we're seeing. iPhone, Android, both of them work. Do you have to download something?
Donald Opatrny:
No. Well, you have to download but it takes about two seconds.
Todd:
Then you have a full experience?
Donald Opatrny:
Your kids can probably do it in about half a second.
Todd:
That's why I would hand it to my son. Yes, absolutely. Well, you talked about the Barbie exhibit. What else can we look forward to? What's coming up?
Donald Opatrny:
We have some fantastic shows coming up. Three things. We mentioned Barbie. It's fascinating, it's a history of fashion over 65 years, Barbie's now 65 years old, as is the museum.
Todd:
She ages well.
Donald Opatrny:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. As does the museum.
Todd:
Yes.
Donald Opatrny:
That is a fantastic show. At the same time, we're going to shortly open the show I alluded to earlier, entitled Multiple Realities, to show you the art that was going on in Eastern Block countries when the Communist reign prevailed. If you think of Barbie next to Multiple Realities, if you want a little variety in what you're going to see.
Todd:
Yeah.
Donald Opatrny:
Then, I have to put in a pitch. We have our gala coming up on April 13th. If you'd like to participate, it's a very important element and it's a night that's filled with art, and music, and good friends and good food.
Todd:
I've been before, it's phenomenal.
Donald Opatrny:
We encourage you to come to the main gala, or we have an after party as well, with great fun and a lower ticket point. We have a big crowd that's going to be there, so be there on April 13th.
Todd:
April 13th. What's the website that they should go to or where can they get more information?
Donald Opatrny:
They should go the museum main website-
Todd:
The museum website?
Donald Opatrny:
It'll be very clear.
Todd:
We can buy a ticket or a table?
Donald Opatrny:
You can.
Todd:
Or sponsor.
Donald Opatrny:
Or sponsor.
Todd:
I'm sure Jeremy will be happy to hear from you.
Donald Opatrny:
It's great for businesses to bring clients, too.
Todd:
Absolutely.
Donald Opatrny:
We guarantee a great evening.
Todd:
It's an amazing ... I agree, and a beautiful spot.
Donald Opatrny:
Thank you very much.
Todd:
Before we go, when you're not spending time at your favorite Arizona museum, where do you like to go? What other places do you like to visit?
Donald Opatrny:
Well, we travel. I've now been to 108 countries in my life. I have to admit that going to another city and walking around its center isn't the top of my list. We more repeat a number of cities. I'm a New Yorker, ultimately, so I go out for some boards that I'm on and we watch the art scene there. We have grandchildren out in Santa Barbara, so we tend to find our way out there once a month.
Todd:
In cultural institutions here?
Donald Opatrny:
I try to go to all the cultural institutions.
Todd:
The Heard, the MIM, all of the-
Donald Opatrny:
The Heard, the ballet, the opera, the symphony, the zoo, the desert, I can go on, because they're important. I'm also very interested to see who do they attract, how do they manage this. As I said I'm an inveterate museum goer and I always go into the restaurant and figure out how that's working as well. That's part of our fun.
Todd:
You mentioned the restaurant. Before we go, when is that opening?
Donald Opatrny:
That will open in October.
Todd:
Okay.
Donald Opatrny:
It'll have an entrance off the street.
Todd:
Okay.
Donald Opatrny:
It's meant to be one of the restaurants you'll be reading about and wanting to attend in the Central Phoenix.
Todd:
You don't have to go through the gate to get in, but you're encouraged to go?
Donald Opatrny:
You need not go in. Well, of course. There's a door that we can bring you into the museum quite efficiently.
Todd:
Excellent. Well, Don, I want to thank you for spending so much time with us today. Before we go, we're going to do a quick lightning round to learn a little bit more about you. What was your first job? Not your first out of college job, your first job.
Donald Opatrny:
My very first job was working in a laboratory, studying cancer research.
Todd:
That was your first job?
Donald Opatrny:
Well, yeah. It was in eighth grade.
Todd:
Okay.
Donald Opatrny:
Then there's been a range, to working on a golf course as part of the crew. It's a carpenter to I've had a variety.
Todd:
What did you learn from those early jobs?
Donald Opatrny:
Well, I grew up on a Slovak family and as my father would always say, "You have to work really hard and maybe you'll get lucky." I think all of those jobs taught me that lesson.
Todd:
Well, you're an arts aficionado so we'll have to ask you, first concert?
Donald Opatrny:
The first concert I ever saw would have been the Cleveland Symphony.
Todd:
When you were eight, I think you said?
Donald Opatrny:
Well, I studied piano, and then I had a younger brother by age eight who played 15 instruments, so I took up ice hockey at the time. But I still, I play the piano, I study, I practice a couple hours.
Todd:
Still?
Donald Opatrny:
I have lessons. I still play the piano. I'm a complete music hound.
Todd:
All right. Maybe at the gala, we might see you on the piano, you never know.
Donald Opatrny:
Well, probably not much chance of that, but I can guarantee you it's great music.
Todd:
Then finally, more on the popular side, Darick Hall calls you and says you're in the lineup, what would be your walkup song going up to bat at the ballpark?
Donald Opatrny:
Oh, I'm a lover of blues and jazz.
Todd:
All right.
Donald Opatrny:
I'd be hard-pressed to pick which I would choose at this point. Right now, I'm playing the St. James Infirmary.
Todd:
Okay. I'll have to look that one up.
Donald Opatrny:
Which was played by the Hot Sardines. I go to the MIM often to see their shows. That's great piano, great piece.
Todd:
Okay.
Donald Opatrny:
That'd probably be my choice.
Todd:
A great endorsement. Well, thank you for spending so much time. Thank you for all that you're doing, not only for the Phoenix Art Museum, but for our community. We really appreciate it.
Donald Opatrny:
Well, I'd say the same to you, Todd. Thank you for what you do and your organization, it's so important to the development of this community so thanks for what you do.
Todd:
Thank you.