Working security at night at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in 2001, Lisa Hollien heard footsteps. Assuming it was the curator, she thought little of it, but when she checked the room, no one was there.
The sign-out log indicated everyone had left more than an hour before.
Later that same evening, Hollien heard banging on metal doors and began to notice pieces of art were slightly moved.
Hollien never identified what caused the ruckus that night or the countless other nights during which she had had similar experiences, but she said it’s possible that it was a ghost.
She said other co-workers reported hearing voices and seeing ghostly figures of people disappear.
Kathleen Tedford, a museum attendant and a senior in political science, said she has never been in the building alone at night.
“I’ve heard all kinds of things?and I sure as hell wouldn’t go there alone,” she said.
Despite former employees’ experiences, David Zemmels, assistant dean of technology for the College of Fine Arts, said he is sure there are not any ghosts in the building. The museum has housed his office for five years, and he is often the last person out at night and has spent a lot of time in the building alone.
Zemmels said he believes they are merely the sounds of air vents and creaks in the building. “There is always some kind of sound going on in a building.”
He understands why some people might get eerie chills in the museum, though, because there are a lot of big open spaces that allow sound to echo and carry easily.
As for the ghosts of the Museum of Fine Arts, museum officials chose not to comment.
Lisa TeranThe lobby to the former Fine Arts Museum located on the basement level of the Arts & Architecture building is now abandoned.
Lisa Teran“A Portrait of a Young Man Weaving a Wreath of Flowers,” by mid-century artist Pierfrancesco di Jacopo Foschi, is said to be haunted. Completed in 1540, the painting hangs in the European Section on the second floor of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.