The most comprehensive exhibit of Latter-day Saint art just opened at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. The gallery spans artwork from 1830 to the present, and it will be open to the public until March 1, 2025.
The collection, “Work and Wonder: 200 Years of Latter-day Saint Art,” was carefully selected by historians and curators and features paintings, sculptures, prints, textiles, and video installations about what it means to be a member of Christ’s restored Church. Highlights of the exhibit include:
- Harry Anderson’s iconic painting, The Second Coming, which the Church commissioned in the 1970s
- A sculptural frieze by Avard Fairbanks that was created for the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago
- Unique pieces from across the globe, including Aboriginal depictions of events from the Book of Mormon and a tapa cloth created by the Va Va’u Relief Society in Tonga
- An 1857 quilt that features squares made by women of the Salt Lake City 14th Ward
- An 1888 hair wreath created by the Manti Relief Society
- Pieces by Latter-day Saint artists like Minerva Teichert, Arnold Friberg, Heinrich Hoffman, Carl Bloch, Jorge Cocco Santángelo, Walter Rane, Julie Yuen Yim, Georgina Bringas, Abu Hassan Conteh, J. Kirk Richards, and Rose Datoc Dall
“Our hope is that this exhibit will be a springboard for so many dialogues about what Latter-day Saint art is, what it has been, what it will be,” curator Ashlee Whitaker Evans said. “Everyone that comes will be edified, both, I think, spiritually as well as artistically.”
Visual art has a rich history in Latter-day Saint culture and faith, and Church leaders have emphasized the importance of sharing our testimonies across different media forms. President M. Russell Ballard taught:
“Great art touches the soul in unique and uncommon ways. Divinely inspired art speaks in the language of eternity, teaching things to the heart that the eyes and ears can never understand. ...
“God’s purpose for the artist is to inspire, to give us visions of ourselves that we might not otherwise see, to make us better than we would have been. The world is better for the arts and righteous artists in it.”
Learn more about the exhibit and view the highlights online. Admission is free, and the museum is open Monday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
To learn more about Latter-day Saint art, check out the articles below.
▶ 5 new paintings of the Savior so striking they stopped us in our tracks
▶ With God, we’ll never run out of good ideas—Greg Olsen’s inspiring take on creativity
▶ This Scottish artist shares the Book of Mormon in the most approachable (and adorable) way
▶ This must-see painting about mental health is resonating with thousands
