The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, alongside the Church History Museum and the Center of Latter-day Saint Arts, opened a new exhibit entitled "Work and Wonder: 200 Years of Latter-day Saint Art" on Sept. 26.
Art curator Laura Paulsen Howe said the exhibit, located inside the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, had been in the works for about three years. She said the exhibit is the first comprehensive attempt to showcase 200 years of Latter-day Saint art. With 118 works for, by and about Latter-day Saints, the exhibit aims to highlight the global and diverse experiences of Church members everywhere.
Created by artists from all over the world, the artwork is organized thematically based on four themes:
- Memory and archive.
- Individual and Church
- Sacred spaces.
- Identity.
One of Paulsen Howe’s favorite pieces is a tapa cloth.
“The Vava’u Relief Society created it for 17-year-old Rudy Wolfgram. He was a young man from Tonga, and he was coming to Salt Lake," Paulsen Howe said. "His Relief Society wanted to send him off with something. The mission president had postcards of Salt Lake in his office and so they painted them onto this cloth — the Salt Lake Temple, the Tabernacle, Eagle Gate and the organ at Temple Square.”
"This 1936 piece of Tongan Women expresses their love for this young man," Paulson Howe added.
Among the various works, visitors will also be able to see a 1933 World’s Fair Piece made up of four large parts depicting eternal progress. Its original debut marked the first time the Church told its story publicly, Riley Lorimer, Church History Museum's director, said.
The exhibit will run from Sept. 26 to March 1, 2025, with a grand opening on Oct. 17 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. that will be open to the public.
Those interested can visit the museum for free during the following hours:
- Monday, Friday and Saturday, from 10 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 10 a.m.-8:00 p.m.