Zion Art Podcast

Adam Thomas is a sculptor and professor of art. His new exhibition, “Creation, Expulsion, Redeption

Welcome to the Zion Art Podcast, dedicated to exploring the art and culture of Latter-day Saints through interviews with artists, collectors, and scholars. The podcast is presented by the Zion Art Society and hosted by me, Micah Christensen. Today, we are broadcasting a lecture given by the scholar Rebekah Ryan Clark, Historical Research Associate for Better Days 2020, an organization celebrating and educating the public on landmark moments in women’s suffrage. The subject of Rebekah Ryan Clark’s lecture is Alice Merrill Horne, a key figure in the suffrage movement and in the development of artistic institutions in the West, including several Museums, government programs, and the careers of artists like Minerva Teichert. The lecture begins with an introduction by the CEO of Better Days 200, Neylan McBaine.

An interview with Annette Everette , a nationally-award winning sculptor whose historical and religious works have been shown at the American Women Artists’ exhibition, the Springville Museum of Art’s Spring Salon and Spiritual & Religious shows, BYU Museum of Art and the Church’s International Exhibition, just to name a few. Annette Everette’s monuments of allegorical and historical figures can be found at universities, government memorials, and Church sites. She is one of the 90 artists invited to participate in the Certain Women Art Show.

A panel discussion — held as part of the Certain Women Art Show — with Dr. Rita Wright (Director of the Springville Museum of Art), Ashlee Whitaker (Roy and Carol Christensen Curator of Religious Art at BYU Museum of Art), Dr. Heather Belnap (Associate Professor and European Studies at Brigham Young University), and Hannah Miller (Temple Art Historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Dr. Micah Christensen served as moderator for a discussion that explored Latter-day Saint women artists, past and present.

Pioneering new approaches to the ancient technique of encaustic, Shari Lyon is an artist who has spent much of her life nurturing the careers of others as much as her own. Dr. Micah Christensen talks to Shari about her many projects, travels, and latest work for the Certain Women Art Show.

Anne Marie Oborn's still life, landscape, figurative and religious paintings have gained national attention as a Signature Member of the Oil Painters’ of America and the American Academy of Women Artists. Locally, Oborn is a founding member of the Inspirational At Association and the Plein Air Painters of Utah. She is also a prolific illustrator for dozens of books and publications including, the Ensign, Liahona, His Gift — a collaboration with Richard Paul Evans — and numerous instructional materials for emerging artists.

Cassandra Barney and Emily McPhie are sisters and painters who each have thriving careers. They are also the daughters of the late James C. Christensen, an influential and pioneering artist who taught at Brigham Young University. In the interview, they discuss what it meant to grow up with an artist, how each developed her own separate aesthetics and working practices, and their works for the Church International Competition and Certain Women Art Show.

Tonya Vistaunet is an artist, entrepreneur, community organizer and overall doyenne of joyful color. Often partnership with her husband Steve, she creates pieces in wide range of media from fine art to coloring books, and murals. Tonya’s work has been accepted into countless shows, including multiple times to the Springville Museum’s Annual Spring Salon, the Spirituality & Religious Show, and the Church’s International Exhibition. Tonya is an advocate and organizer, playing a major role in teaching, supporting, and promoting artists and their work. She is participating in the Certain Women Art Show.

Annie Poon works in a huge array of media, from painting to sculpture, etching, and film. Her work has been shown on Nickelodeon, PBS, and at the National Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, New Museum, and Museum of Arts and Design.

In 2018, the Certain Women Art Show was the first exhibition held and dedicated exclusively to Latter-Day Saint Women artists. This year’s artist-organizers — Mary Brickey Cole, Laura Erekson Atkinson, and Nicole Woodbury — have more than doubled the size of the show by inviting 90 artists to create original works. In this interview, they discuss the process and intent behind the show.For more information about dates and locations, please visit certainwomenartshow.com, where you can also RSVP.

Ashlee Whitaker is the Head Curator and Roy & Carol Christensen Curator of Religious Art at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art and has just opened a new exhibition on renowned sculptor and artist Mahonri Young. We talk about the exhibition, Young’s life and remarkable circle of influence.

Opening May 3, Geilman’s show Works of Translation is a multi piece show featuring photos of her incredible works of art.

The Spring Salon was first held in 1922, begun by students and teachers of Springville High School who wanted to exhibit and promote original artwork. The Salon has been held annually since that time, except during World War II when fuel and other goods were rationed nationwide. This episode is a preview of the show. We were fortunate enough to walk through the Salon, see the award-winners and share some thoughts about each of them for you. You can view the 95th Spring Salon from Thursday April, 24 until July 6.

Every three years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds an art competition spanning the globe and featuring works from members of the Church on a central theme. This year, we were please to be invited to an early viewing of the show and provide our reaction to the show and a number of works that stood out. In this special podcast episode, we dive into the show and the works, and as always would love to hear your thoughts on what stood out to you.

We are back from winter break for a sit down with Ben Hammond, who among other achievements was just awarded the commission to sculpt Martha Hughes Cannon for the US Capitol. The national competition pays homage to the trailblazing Cannon, the first woman to serve in the Utah State Legislature.

In this episode we sit down for a special conversation with Dr. Lisa DeLong, Outreach Programme Manager for the Prince's School in London, and a talented artist in her own right.

For months now, we have been tossing around the idea of taking this podcast in a new direction. As a result, Mormon Visual Culture is no more. Well, the name is changed. We are still going to bring regular interviews with artists, scholars and collectors, hopefuls much more regularly in the coming months. We are back. Tell your friends. Share the news.

A wonderful discussion with artist and sculptor extraordinaire Tyson Snow about his background and the very unique set of circumstances - including recently returning from The Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale - that had led him to be one of the most talented and educated sculptors of our day. From enormous monuments to beautiful desktop works, Tyson’s work in bronze is on view throughout the country, specifically in the West.

Brad Kramer is the owner of Provo's Writ & Vision, an art gallery and book store that has specialized in promoting both new and upcoming contemporary art and well-known artists outside of the typical canon of LDS art. His unique background and perspective lend to an interesting role in the arts community in Utah. The discussion looks at this background, his goals as a gallery owner, and some interesting experiences he has had as a gallery owner in the arts hub of the State

Artist and educator Justin Wheatley sits down with us to talk about art through criticism, process, creation, and marketing. His paintings have covered the spectrum from explicitly religious to decorative, but all of these works have shared a deep, personal meaning that transcends the architectural designs and scenes he depicts. 

itlin Connolly is on the cutting edge of LDS art both in style and subject matter. Her work is seen across the country and has become increasingly recognizable among Church membership. Her unique style comes from years of honing a technique began in high school. The interview delves into her background, her current work and her thoughts on the future of LDS art. 

On the closing evening of the Certain Women exhibition at Anthony's Fine Art in Salt Lake, we were fortunate to host Dr. Rita Wright, Neylan McBaine, and Dr. Heather Belnap for a discussion on women in art in the LDS Church. It was recorded in front of a live audience and streamed live on Facebook.

The podcast hits the road where we were able to tour the studio of Linda Curley Christensen, perhaps the most prolific of any Church-commissioned artist. She has painted the murals for nearly every temple since 2000 and her landscape works can be found in the Conference Center and in Church publications across the world. Her enormous mural studio in Wallsburg, UT was the site for our interview where we got to witness her team prepping, painting, and restoring murals for at least three LDS temples. 

This week we interview the artist Howard Lyon. For years, Howard has worked as a fine artist in mediums from digital, to fantasy, to competitive figural painting. Howard is currently working on a set of 12 figural works, diverging from his path as a well-known religious painter featured in Church publications and as a fantasy artist designing Magic cards.

On Friday March 2, 2018, we are proud to open an exhibition title Certain Women. The show features art created by and curated by LDS women and will show for two months, first in Salt Lake City, and then in Provo. In this interview, we sit down with the four women who conceptualized the show, Angela Reichman, Emily Carruth Fuller, Katherine Ricks, and Nicole Woodbury. We discuss their inspiration for the show and what it would have meant to them to see a similar one when they were studying their craft. 

In this first interview of our newest series, we speak with Laura Hurtado, Global Acquisitions Curator of the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. We discuss the recent call for entries to the 11th International LDS Art Competition, to be exhibited next year. We also touch on some of the details behind the jurying process, the acquisitions process, and what goes into a curated exhibit in the Museum. 

A conversation with sculptor and painter Dennis Smith, Co-Founder of the Mormon Art & Belief Movement, whose monumental works depicting children, families, and historical figures can be found throughout Europe, the US and at significant Church site.

This episode marks a new chapter in Mormon Visual Culture. As we close 2017 and our celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Gospel Vision of the Arts, we turn our focus to other critical aspects of the LDS art community and culture. In this extended episode we sit down with Richard Oman, longtime curator at the Church Museum of History and Art. This discussion is wide ranging and dives into the question of the role of art in the Church and the role of the Church in art. 

I this special episode, Micah Christensen sits down with the renowned artist Gary Ernest Smith to discuss the Art & Belief movement that Smith was instrumental in organizing in the 1960s. Held as a live interview and Q&A during the final night of the 2017 Zion Art Invitational, the interview dives into Smith's work and where LDS art has come in the last half-century. 

A long-anticipated masterclass from Dr. Vern Swanson, author, museum director, educator, etc. sits down with us to discuss the trajectory of LDS art from his personal experience dating from 1965 until now. He discusses several important paintings in the history or LDS art up until work that is being done today and he shares several insightful stories of where we have come from as an arts community.

Leslie Graff is much more than an artist, but her work has been featured at BYU, in Church exhibitions and in museums across the country. Her professional life reflects on child development, but her passion for art, especially for a work by her friend and artist Rose Datoc Dall.

The artist Walter Rane sits down with Micah for a live recording touching on a work and an artist that inspired him, his methodology and philosophy on creating artworks, and his wealth of knowledge of what it takes to make meaningful, religious art.

A discussion with Temple Architect Paul Monson and Temple Art Manager Arch Williams, who currently work designing LDS temples and commissioning art for their interiors. Paul & Arch will discuss the role of arts in the architectural designs and how creating contemplative continuity within temples is essential to each individual building.

We sit down with Colby Sanford to discuss a very, aesthetically different piece by Bruce Hixson Smith titled Jacob & Leah, now on view at the BYU Museum of Art in the Interpretation Thereof Exhibition. Sanford also discusses his background, training in ceramics, life in China, and the only four colors that matter. 

For the first time, we sit down with a collector to get a new perspective on the state of LDS art and what it means to those who come to own those works. Cris owns several works, most notably a work by Brian Kershisnik on display at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City. Learn more of what it means to be a collector and how to get started buying LDS art.

This week, we talk with the renowned artist Casey Childs to discuss one of his favorite religious works of art, Agony in the Garden by Frans Schwartz. Virtually unknown until the work came to BYU with the Sacred Gifts Exhibition, this work has become a favorite of artists and enthusiasts alike. Casey discusses Schwartz use of color and light and the ultimate effect of the emotion of the painting. 

In this special episode, Micah and Eric announce the first Zion Art Invitational taking place in Salt Lake City from Sep 12-Oct 1 presented by the Zion Art Society. Learn more about the Invitational, the artists involved, and the events surrounding it in this special episode.

Artist Jenedy Paige discusses the devotional art of LDS painter Ron Richmond and how the ambiguity in his work helps her to better understand how her art can be revelatory to herself and others. Talking through Richmond's portrayal of the Resurrection helps inform the issues that she faces in portrayals of sacred imagery in her own work. 

In this special episode, we speak with up-and-coming artist Gustavo Ramos who moved from Brazil, to Arizona, to Southern Virginia University and finally Salt Lake City to study painting. His studies have led him to the Hein Academy of Art where Ramos hopes to develop his talents in the vein of a personal inspiration, Walter Rane. 

In 1890, President George Q. Cannon sent 5 young artists from Salt Lake City to Paris to study painting in preparation of the completion of the Salt Lake Temple. After convincing the Church to sponsor John Hafen, Lorus Pratt, JB Fairbanks, Edwin Evans, and Herman Haag left for the Academie Julian to study painting under the great French Impressionists of the Belle Epoque. In this special episode, we discuss their background training, and impact on Utah Art in the 20th Century. 

This week we stray a little bit from work by LDS artists in pursuit of becoming a "Mormon Michelangelo" to look at the Michelangelo at his peak. The tomb of Lorenzo de Medici, his patron, friend and father figure is a part of the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy where Hall studied marble sculpting and had a transformative experience in front of this renaissance masterwork. 

Emily Larsen Boothe is the Assistant Curator at the Springville Museum of Art and is responsible for organizing exhibitions and shows throughout the year. Springville's collection of Utah and LDS Art may be the finest anywhere in the world, including Jesus Christ is the God of that Land by one of the most treasured and reproduced LDS artists of all time, Minerva Teichert. 

We sit down with Ashlee Whitaker, the Run and Carol Christensen Curator of Religious Art at BYU to talk about her favorite piece of religious work in the collection at the BYU Museum of Art. A pair of triptychs by renowned LDS painter Trevor Southey reflect the life of Christ in a style completely unique to Southey and with a depth unparalleled in LDS art. 

Part 2 of our discussion with Dr. Probert focuses on the specifics the Assembly Hall, its history and its role as one of the spiritual homes of the early Saints. Many of these buildings were a rare opportunity for leaders of the Church to express our beliefs through art and architecture. 

The artist Jeff Hein joins us to discuss how we use monumental religious painting in LDS culture. Much like Carl Bloch's series of paintings for the Fredriksborg Castle in Denmark, Hein is beginning a twenty year venture to create large scale depictions of the life of Christ. We discuss that process the challenges both technically and philosophically of such a task. 

In this first half of a two part discussion with Dr. Probert, we discuss the dichotomy of Catholic-inspired and Protestant-inspired architecture and art. The effect that these influences have on our culture, generally have been pervasive. Our discussion focuses on this duality, manifest in a photo of Temple Square in Salt Lake City in the 1890s. 

Artist Bryan Mark Taylor discusses one of his favorite landscape works, fortunately housed at BYU's Museum of Art. His work has built on the many varied techniques and teachings honed through years of training and exhibited right now in a new show at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. Along with two landscape artists Josh Clare and John Burton, the beautiful scenes experienced by the Pioneers in their trek west have been remarkably captured by oil on canvas for us to enjoy today.

Artist and teacher Ryan Brown discusses a recent commission to hearken to one of the most iconic images in modern LDS culture. He also discusses the role of educating patrons, artists and the public on the importance of arts literacy.

Dr. Herman du Toit discusses one of the beast known artists among members of the LDS Church, 19th Century Danish painter, Carl Bloch. His works are nearly ubiquitous, but his role is much more pervasive than the reduced size depictions that are common in magazines and manuals.

Author and Scholar Richard Bushman joins us with Glen Nelson, founder of the Mormon Artists Group to discuss their upcoming Mormon Arts Center Festival. They also discuss a work chosen from the Church History Museum Collection by Daniel Everett, a photographer who captured an abstract image of the Provo City Center Temple. 

Dr. Rita Wright, director of the Springville Museum of Art sits down with Micah to discuss the influence that her painting Et in Arcadia Ego by Wulf Barsch has had on her home. They also discuss the importance of fine art, whether classical, modern or anything in between both in a museum setting and in the home.