It's About the Love

This delightful photograph of Richard and Claudia Bushman (taken by Jon Moe) is about as perfect a symbol as I can think of to explain what drives the Mormon Arts Center. 

It's about love--for art, but love for the people making it, viewing it, studying it, supporting it, and bringing it to the limelight, too. I've noticed over the couple of years working on these projects that this affection for each other is a powerful buoying force. When one of us is overwhelmed and down, another senses it and comes to the rescue. 

My anxiety about Mormon artists is that there are too few people ready to step up and help these folks do their best work. When somebody asks me why I do it, part of the answer is to hang out with wonderful people like Richard and Claudia Bushman; another is to show some love to Mormon artists.