Center Festival 2017
Riverside Church, New York, NY
June 29-July 1 2017
The Center’s
First Festival
The inaugural Festival of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts (then the Mormon Arts Center) was a landmark moment. 2017 marked the fiftieth anniversary of LDS President Spencer W. Kimball’s address on the Gospel in the Arts. The 3-day Festival explored the legacy of President Kimball’s groundbreaking message through exhibitions, concerts, presentations, academic discourse, and publications. It brought together visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, writers, and scholars to showcase and celebrate the depth of artistic expression within the LDS tradition.
Festival Events
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Forging the Mormon Identity: Keynote by Terryl L. Givens
Opening night keynote address was delivered by Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond, author of People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture, and The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections on the Quest for Faith.
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Symposium
A day of scholarship was organized by Richard Bushman and Claudia Bushman with presentations from a variety of scholars exploring Kimball’s artistic call to arms—where we are now and its influence on a generation of Mormon Artists.
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Sing-in
Festival attendees took part in a traditional sing-in conducted by Craig Jessop with accompaniment by Bonnie Goodliffe.
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More on Youtube
Step into more of the events, presentations, and concerts of the 2017 festival on the Center’s Youtube channel.
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Deseret String Quartet
A concert in Christ Chapel was performed by the Deseret String Quartet of works drawn from the previous winners of the Barlow commissions for LDS composers, organized by Ethan Wickman.
Immediate Present
Festival Exhibition Curated by Lauren Allred Hurtado
This seminal exhibition of the Center examined the Mormon art of present day by bringing together a range of works created in the last three years—from explicitly religious paintings, to the varied artistic practices of those who self-identify as Latter-day Saint, to works that shed light on Mormon themes.
Exhibition Catalog
23 artists, 23 writers.
Published on the occasion of the exhibition, this publication is a sampling of works created in the last three years by twenty-three artists, with each artwork paired with a commissioned text by one of 23 writers.
In The News
Watch the insight report by KSL News: “A unique gathering, The Mormon Arts Center Festival, took place in New York City last weekend. As Arts Specialist Carole Mikita reports, the participants looked forward to answering the question: What is Mormon Art?” Read on KSL.Com
Festival Photos
