Center for Latter-Day Saint Arts Inc

Cultural Relevance Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader The Center published its landmark volume of visual art of the Latter-day Saints from the nineteenth-century to the present, including art by, for, or about Mormons. Scholars from various disciplines, perspectives, and backgrounds contributed individual chapters with rigorous research and analysis of Latter-day Saint artistic production and culture. Together, the twenty-two chapters covered panorama paintings, quilts, architecture, sculpture, and cartoons, to film, gallery installations, indigenous works and more to offer a complex and comprehensive picture of Mormon visual art with unprecedented breadth and depth. Highlighting a broad range of critical approaches from scholars both inside and outside the faith tradition, this publication was the first of its kind about Latter-day Saint art. The volume was published by Oxford University Press on August 27, 2024, edited by Amanda Beardsley and Mason Kamana Allred, and featured a foreword from Center co-founders, Richard L. Bushman and Glen Nelson. Carnegie Hall Performance On April 9th, 2024, the celebrated soprano Rachel Willis-Srensen made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall as a guest of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts. Willis-Srensen is a regular at leading opera houses around the world, from the LA Opera to Opera national de Paris. At Zankel Hall, Willis-Srensen sang works by Strauss and song cycles by Rachmaninoff, Beach, and Sibelius. She gave the world premiere of S. Andrew Lloyd's Amaranthine, winner of the 2022 Prize of The Ariel Bybee Endowment at the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts, an endowment created to honor the legacy of Metropolitan Opera mezzo Ariel Bybee (1943-2018). The Ariel Bybee Endowment at the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts The Ariel Bybee Endowment at the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts is delighted to announce the winner of the 2024 Prize: Music Education. Mia Black, a music educator currently living in Utah Valley and with multiple experiences living abroad is developing a curriculum for elementary-aged students through a book, titled American Harmon. American Harmony will function as an organized collection of folk songs to be used in a classroom setting organized by the story of immigration to America. The book will adhere to Kodaly music education theory, which suggests that students should learn music through the folk songs of their history and culture. Black, in particular, understands both the benefits and challenges of applying this theory to her work. Each unit will include songs, lessons and historical context to help elementary-aged students understand and celebrate the inherent multicultural nature of the United States. Folk music from local Native American cultures, Southern slave songs, Latin American music, Asian music, Irish music, and more will be included in the book. Of the broad inclusion of culture and ethnicity in the curriculum, Black says, "They should all have a place within American folk music - as they represent the diversity of our students that makes up our true American heritage." Claremont Graduate University Exhibition The Delicate Ties That Bind was a visual art exhibition held at Claremont Graduate University in the Peggy Phelps Gallery and East Gallery in Claremont, California from October 19, 2024 - November 1, 2024. It explored the precariousness of post-pandemic existence and assessed the complex and often fragile relationships that shape our lives now. These threads make up the nature of our reality and serve as metaphors for both a tattered society and the essential connections between us. They both have the power to hurt but also the power to heal. The exhibition delved into the intersections of social and geographic communities, religious institutions, political systems, environmental concerns, and personal connections. The Delicate Ties That Bind was curated by Megan Knobloch Geilman and sponsored by Chloe Ross. The seven participating artists held a connection to Southern California or Claremont Graduate University: Andrew Ballsteaedt, Richard Gate, Megan Knobloch Geilman, Kyla Hansen, Jackie Leishman, Alice Marie Perreault, and Samantha Zauscher. The exhibition opening featured a panel discussion with Amanda Beardsley and Mason Kamana Allred, co-editors of Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader, published by Oxford University Press. The panel, moderated by Glen Nelson, was held October 19, 2024 in the Albrecht Auditorium on the campus of Claremont Graduate University. John Held, Jr. Exhibition Originally an exhibition for the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts in New York City, John Held, Jr. was curated by Glen Nelson, co-founder and director of special projects at the Center. The first exhibition of Held's work at the BYU Museum of Art, it celebrated his commercial work, paintings, drawings, watercolors, prints, and sculpture, as well as his almost-entirely unknown body of fiction. The exhibition was on view at the museum from December 6, 2024-April 2025. The Center Studio Podcast The official podcast of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts completed its 7th season in 2024, featuring 14 episodes with 18 featured guests. The in-depth interviews of artists and scholars on topics of art, are hosted by Glen Nelson.

Divine Creativity Come Follow Me - Art Companion Our pioneering resource The Come Follow Me (Art Companion) continued to provide an artistic supplement to weekly Gospel learning for every age and to spark thoughtful discussion through the Book of Mormon, featuring 52 artistic creations throughout the year.