Mormon Artists Group

Hello. After the announcement of our most recent publication, I Visit the Spirit World with My Mother, I’ve been treated to miraculous tales of the other world. Friends and subscribers have been sending me some of their own family stories as well as episodes from church history that I’d never heard before.

When I was a child, amazing stories like this were part of our common conversation. I remember my parents telling me about appearances and interventions of the three Nephites, extraordinary encounters with the spirit world surrounding temple activities, healings, angelic warnings of danger, protection, and many inexplicable occurrences in dreams and visions. We talked about these things at the dinner table and as we worked on our farm. My friends added their stories too, about mysterious things, exciting and wondrous things. All of these were fed into the hopper of my little brain.

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I Visit the Spirit World with My Mother

Artist book by Brent Wilson with text by his great-grandmother Lerona Wilson. Unbound folios printed on Lhakpa paper from Nepal, presented in handmade silk clamshell, 14″ x 10″ x 2.25″. Edition of 50.

available

2008

Prospectus
Interview

In front of me are two hymnbooks of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One is the 1927 edition. It is 8″ x 5.5″. Its dark green bookcloth cover is embossed with the words Latter-day Saint Hymns and decorative scroll work of a harp and floral pattern. The front cover features a severe geometric border at its edges; the back cover has a small, round embossing of a harp at its center. It was published by the Deseret Book Company, copyrighted by Heber J. Grant, and printed by the Press of Zion’s Printing and Publishing Company. It is the hymnbook my parents grew up with.

The other hymnal will be familiar to anyone reading this newsletter. The 1985 book which includes 341 hymns, ending with God Save the King, sells for $16.95 for the coil-bound version I use at home. It has a blue-green cover with the word Hymns printed boldly in gold over an embossed relief of the Tabernacle organ pipes.

But enough of comparisons.

What will the hymnal of 2043 be like?

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The Book of Gold

Opera by Murray Boren (music) and Glen Nelson (libretto), published as a three-volume work with DVD, piano/vocal score, libretto, composer’s interview, and librettist’s essay. Edition of 25.

No longer available

2007

Prospectus
Video clip on YouTube

Artist’s Christmas Cards - 2007

Original Christmas cards by six artists: Linda Etherington (painter) at left, Cameron King (graphic designer), Daleene Menning (ceramist), Jon Moe (photographer), Tom Plummer (author), and Steve Ricks (composer).

No longer available

2007

View all the cards and the prospectus

On the Road with Joseph Smith
An Author’s Diary

Personal account by Richard Lyman Bushman of the events surrounding the publication of his biography of Joseph Smith, Rough Stone Rolling, 2006, Limited edition and commerical paperback edition.

Limited edition no longer available

Paperback edition available

2006

Prospectus
Reviews
Permanent Collections

Mormon Artists Group: Adventures in Art Making
By Glen Nelson

[This essay appeared in Fall, 2006, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol. 39, No. 3.]

It is an elaborate experiment really, this Mormon Artists Group that I founded seven years ago. In my interviews with the press, I have been saying that the number of LDS writers, painters, photographers, composers, etc., in New York City is about fifty, but that figure (which does not include performing artists) is frequently closer to one hundred. We began creating works together including limited edition books and prints five years ago. Sometimes I am asked by journalists about the state of Mormon Arts and what I think it means to be a Mormon artist today. To be honest, I do not have a satisfying answer. But I do know that Mormon Artists Group is having success finding LDS artists who aspire to the highest levels of achievement, and we are also attracting a new audience to their work, both in the U.S. and abroad…

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Artist’s Christmas Cards - 2006

Original christmas cards by ten artists: Valerie Atkisson (left), Natasha Layne Brien, Kent Christenen, Stephen Moore, Glen Nelson, Luisa Perkins, Annie Poon, Kah Leong Poon, Joanne Rowland, and Ultra Violet

No longer available

2006

Prospectus

Curses for Your Sake

Curses for Your Sake is the first volume of poetry by Javen Tanner. This chapbook contains fourteen poems that traverse a landscape of contemporary wandering and rumination. The collection contrasts relationships in the family with observations of the outside world. Hardcover limited edition and commercial paperback edition.

Limited edition no longer available

Paperback edition available

2006

Prospectus
Collections

Salt Water Jetty

An original print by Kent Christensen entitled Salt Water Jetty, 2006, eight color monotype over intaglio copperplate etching, 17.25″ x 17.5″, signed/numbered. Edition: 25

Available

2006

Prospectus
Exhibition history
Making the Print

The Book of Visions

The Book of Visions by Annie Poon is a short animated film and multiple artwork that tells a story weaving tales of three visionaries: Joan of Arc, the Sioux chief Black Elk, and the American boy prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr.

Limited edition available
DVD available

2005

Prospectus
Exhibitions and Awards

The Articles of Faith

A Song Cycle for Children ’s Chorus or Solo Voice with Piano Accompaniment by David Fletcher.

Available

2005

Prospectus

Manhattan New York Temple Portfolio

Images of the Manhattan New York Temple captured by six LDS photographers: Natasha Brien, Matthew Day, Jon Moe, Kah Leong Poon, James Ransom, and Seth Smoot.

Portfolio available
Individual photographs available

2005

Prospectus
Reviews

Mormoniana

16 Mormon composers were invited to participate in a collaborative project. The premise was simple: each composer was to select a visual artwork by an LDS artist and write a piano composition inspired by it. Together, the finished piano works form a new, 16-movement concert work for the piano. The resulting score, a celebration of LDS artists and composers, is titled Mormoniana. The volume includes the full score, a CD recording by legendary American pianist Grant Johannesen, an essay by Michael Hicks, an original artwork by Valerie Atkisson, and reproductions of all the artworks selected by the composers.

Limited and deluxe editions available
Paperback edition available
CD available

2004

Prospectus
Production Diary
Reviews
Press

Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters

A set of three original prints by artist Lane Twitchell, entitled Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Morning, Noon, Night), 2003.

Laser-cut paper and gicleé, 10.25” x 10.5”.
Signed/numbered, edition: 50.

Available

2003

Prospectus
Production Diary
Permanent Collections

Musical Compositions by LDS Composers in New York City Library Collections

Reference volume of musical scores and recordings including symphonies, concertos, solo, choral and chamber works; and operas, ballets and theater pieces. To download as a free PDF file, click the image at left. 56 pp.

2002

Silent Notes Taken

Volume of personal essays, with four original etchings by Stephen Moore and introductory essay by Richard Lyman Bushman; limited edition handbound over boards and covered in natural Irish linen. Edition: 50

Limited edition no longer available

Paperback edition available

2002

Prospectus
Production Diary
Excerpts
Authors’ Biographies
Press

Exhibition and charity auction. 23 artists created new works in teams, based on the classic French Surrealist parlor game. 7 teams participated: photography, painting (3), writing (2), and musical composition. Artworks were auctioned and all proceeds donated to charities of the artists’ choosing.

2000

Contents of the exhibition