Kardonsky Foundation, Towerbank to fund one of the Museum of Biodiversity's galleries

Towerbank to sponsor one of the Museum of Biodiversity's galleries
article by Eric Jackson, illustrations by the Fundacion Amador

The government (a previous administration) donated the land on Amador, renowned Canadian architect Frank Gehry (who's married to a Panamanian) did the design, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (a US governmental entity) is helping out with the science, but mostly a number of wealthy Panamanian families are coming up with the money to set up the Museum of Biodiversity, now under construction on Amador and surely destined to become the principal international symbol of Panama City's skyline.

The museum will have eight galleries around a large central space, and now the Kardonsky family, via the Fundacion Sam Kardonsky and Towerbank, has stepped forward to sponsor the Gallery of Biodiversity, one of those eight main showrooms, which will cost $900,000 to set up and feature the Showcase of Biodiversity, a multimedia exhibit of the vast range of life forms on the planet and their evolution and extinction.

Representatives of the bank, the Kardonsky and Amador foundations and Panama's community of artists got together for a press conference and powerpoint display about the gallery, and for an announcement of the Arte Innova Panama: Prisma de Vida urban art contest, whereby artists may compete for a $10,000 prize in contributing to the Showcase of Biodiversity's design. The contest is intended to become an annual affair.

Fred Kardonsky, president of Towerbank and son of the late insurance and financial services tycoon Sam Kardonsky, noted the project's origins. "It started out with the passion of a small group." That little band of visionaries included his father, members of the Eisenmann and Motta families, and a few others.

Jose Campa, the executive vice president of Towerbank, added that not only is the museum going to be "a surprising building, full of color, movement and life" that will become an instant landmark and "a great pride for Panamanians," but that the entire project is "an opportunity to contribute to a change of moral attitude."

Ongoing construction

The building's planned outward appearance

One possible look for the Showcase of Biodiversity

lifestyle