By CLAUDIA LORENZANA
Women and pioneers have been the subject of several exhibits featured at the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City.
The museum’s current exhibit, Women of Faith, opened Sept. 13 and explores the lives of women in the Bible and more contemporary times.
Robert Davis, curator of art at the museum, said the paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures included in the exhibit portray the important roles women have played in families and society.
“Many of the subjects are exemplary women whose lives have influenced others,” Davis said.
According to a news release, the exhibit which will run until Jan. 12, and features women such as Emma Smith and biblical figures such as Esther, Rebekah and Mary.
Also opening at the museum this Saturday is the Pioneer Sesquicentennial exhibit, From New York to Salt Lake.
The exhibit focuses on the founding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and explores the pioneers’ experiences in the early settlement of Salt Lake City.
Museum director, Glen M. Leonard, worked together with the New York Historical Society to put together this rare collection of 19th-century doctrinal books written by church members and leaders, pamphlets, engravings, art and artifacts.
Leonard is expecting the exhibit will be a popular one because it features artwork that has never been displayed before.
“They will find a variety of art that will give them a real sense of church history,” Leonard said.
The exhibit will open this Sunday and run through Oct. 12.
The museum’s celebration of the pioneer sesquicentennial began last Mar. 22 at the Fourth International Art Competition and Exhibition: 150 Years of Pioneering by awarding two artists with the Visitors’ Choice Award.
Jenny Lund, curator of education at the museum, said the exhibit commemorated pioneers all over the world.
“A pioneer is someone that goes forth and does something new for the first time. Many of the first members of the church in places like Asia and Russia are pioneers,” Lund said.
The winners of the Visitors’ Choice Award, Judy Law and Liz Lemon, received $500 last August when their paintings received the most votes in the competition.
Law’s painting, Sanctify to Thee Thy Deepest Distress, also impressed judges last March when she won a merit award for her painting.
Law said her painting represents the challenges the pioneers faced and the anguish they experienced upon losing a loved one.
More importantly, the painting symbolizes the challenges people experience today in their own lives.
“Many people have said that by looking at the painting, they have wept away their own pain, and have gotten a peaceful feeling,” Law said.
The exhibit closed on Labor day, but was followed by a children’s sesquicentennial art exhibit that will run until Oct. 12.
The museum at 45 North West Temple, Salt Lake City, is open weekdays 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission to the exhibits is free.
