People think about their bodies and what’s inside their bodies. They learn to reverence their organs more than they did and the body systems that are so delicate and fragile but also very resilient. – Jenie Skoy
SALT LAKE CITY — Don’t be surprised to find a pack of cigarettes, or two, sitting by the black lungs specimen in the new exhibit at The Leonardo.
“People leave their cigarette cartons on top of the glass, by the lungs,” said Jenie Skoy, communications manager of “Body Worlds.” “As people go through this exhibit, one of the most powerful things about it is that they change their life.”
“Body Worlds & The Cycle of Life,” an exhibition featuring plastinated body specimens that walks visitors through how the human body changes over time, opens today at The Leonardo, 209 E. 500 South.
Visitors will find more than 200 preserved specimens of human organs and limbs and 19 full-body "plastinates," starting at the development of a zygote and exploring through adolescence, adulthood and old age.
Skoy said the key message of the exhibit is health education, which is a reason why some visitors make the pledge to quit smoking and discard their cigarettes.
Many of the cases display healthy organs and body parts along with their diseased counterparts. A popular specimen is the black lung that came from a donor who smoked.
Skoy said the lung exhibit causes people to reflect on the health of their own lungs as they visually compare the two.
“People think about their bodies and what’s inside their bodies,” she said. “They learn to reverence their organs more than they did and the body systems that are so delicate and fragile but also very resilient.”
The museum also showcases a specimen of a knee joint with severe arthritis, a spine with scoliosis, a brain with Alzheimer’s, along with their healthy counterparts.
Alexandra Hesse, executive director of The Leonardo, said the various series of “Body Worlds” exhibits have traveled to 70 cities, bringing the beauty and intricacy of the human body to 40 million people. “Body Worlds” first came to Salt Lake City in 2008.
“The exhibit (in 2008) was a tremendous success in so many ways, and we’ve been asked by visitors and the community when we would be bringing ‘Body Worlds’ back to the community,” Hesse said. “And the answer is, of course, today.”
In 1977, Dr. Gunther von Hagens invented the plastination preservation process that made “Body Worlds” possible. The specimens come from a body donation program managed by the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany. Von Hagens’ wife, Dr. Angelina Whalley, is the director of the Institute for Plastination and the creative and conceptual designer of the “Body Worlds” exhibit.
Whalley, a licensed physician, said she is proud to see how her work, and the work of her husband, affects the health choices of the visitors.
“Walking through the exhibition helps people understand that our bodies are our lifelong responsibility,” she said. “It’s such an emotional and touching moment that it does not come as a surprise that (visitors) say, ‘I have a completely different view of myself and never again will I take my body for granted.’ ”
The 19 full-body plastinates are displayed in various poses, an idea inspired by the work of Leonardo da Vinci.
“During the Renaissance, Leonardo would draw these skinless figures with the anatomy showing, but he would draw them in poses and different postures and it was different than what had been done before,” Skoy said. “In the same way, the anatomist Gunther von Hagens poses these anatomical structures in ways that make them seem like they are alive. He’s creating respect for humans.”
Some of the poses include two hockey players competing, a human emerging from the grave, a swordsman, a walking elder and a lassoer.
The Leonardo will also be hosting various programs, including wellness nights, a bionics night, a sketch class and a yoga day, to promote health education.
If you go …
What: “Body Worlds & The Cycle of Life”
Where: The Leonardo, 209 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
When: Begins Sept. 27 and runs through January
Hours: Saturday-Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Prices: $8.95-$19.95, free for children 5 and under
Web: theleonardo.org
Amber Clayson has a bachelor's degree in communications from BYU and writes for the Church News and Mormon Times. She can be reached at aclayson@deseretnews.com.