Creativity: A Universal Gift
by Scott Higginson
Creativity is an amazing and unexplainable power. It comes from within us. It cannot be purchased. It cannot be manufactured. But it can be mastered, shaped and improved. We all have it, this shared gift with and from God. But some are endowed with an extra capacity to harvest their creativity and generate beauty. Whether one makes music, art, dance, prose or poetry, the ability to manipulate and employ sound, paint, movement or words into a new creation is, really, miraculous.
When these creative expressions carry the Light of Christ, we “feel” a sensation of the Spirit in our souls as we view and contemplate their meaning and beauty. Like a humming tuning fork held next to another fork of the same pitch which begins to vibrate itself, we "feel” a sensation of the Spirit placed there by its artistic creator. We are moved emotionally and come away greatly blessed from our encounter with inspired art.
“When we rejoice in beautiful scenery, great art and great music, it is but the flexing of instincts acquired in another place and another time.”
The Center for Latter-day Saint Arts’ exhibit Materializing Mormonism: Trajectories in Latter-day Saint Art is full of opportunities for each of us to bring our personal tuning fork in contact with art which, if we’re prepared and in tune, will ignite our emotions, make us think and bring us an understanding of sacred principles.
This is the very heart and purpose of the Center, to share teachings and doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the arts. The exhibit’s participating artists represent a wide array of backgrounds and employ various mediums in accomplishing this important objective.
Credit must also be given to the three curators who selected the art and prepared the description cards accompanying each piece in the exhibit, Heather Belnap, Ashlee Whitaker Evans, and Brontë Hebdon. The writing is excellent. Perfectly acclimated to The Center’s purpose and informative for exhibit viewers. Since the exhibit is housed in the Mesa Contemporary Art Museum, for the most part, the individual pieces are contemporary in nature and the curators’ descriptions are very insightful in opening eyes and creating understanding for those who are more accustomed to direct storytelling art or traditional landscapes. Don’t let the term contemporary scare you away.
Through the art, museum patrons will gain an understanding of LDS teachings related to the sacramental ordinance. Heavenly Mother, the creation, conflicts of faith, miracles, community and the nature of Christ.
As with every art exhibit, each viewer will find connectivity with different pieces throughout the show. These pieces were especially moving for me:
Gregg Deal’s piece, The Space Where Spirits Get Eaten, is an extremely powerful reminder of the atrocities foisted upon young Native Americans who were placed in “boarding schools” in an effort to Americanize them…an offensive perversion of the principle that all are alike unto God and a reminder to love our fellowmen.
Emily Fox King’s painting, Bless the Hands, is a drone-like view of a family dinner table serving as a warm reminder of joy in family gatherings…especially if there’s a wide assortment of favorite dishes, like I felt toward my Aunt Lawana’s dinner rolls. While chaos seems to dominate, there is also the genuine peace of familiarity and love created by the human expressions and soft tones of color.
Stephanie Leitch contributed a marvelous installation piece entitled, Untitled Congregation which includes hundreds of plastic sacrament cups strung together and hanging from the ceiling, all gently waving in the air-conditioned atmosphere. If you listen carefully, you can hear the sound of a sacrament service underway. My thoughts quickly turned to the massive numbers of cups and then, I thought, how many hundreds of times have I partaken of this sacred offering without contemplating its eternal significance and meaning to me and all of those blessed by this weekly renewal.
One of the more unique pieces was done by Stephanie Kelly Clark, a newly discovered artist I’ve added to my “favorite” list. Finding Life features imagery of the Garden of Eden and shares the dual, shared role of Eve and Adam in the salvation of God’s children, an LDS doctrine not widely accepted and taught by other Christian faiths. The lacey, green nature of this piece was soothing and refreshing as a medium.
I also found it refreshing and enjoyable, with a just a twinge of “insider knowledge,” to see several pieces in the “Mormonicana” section of the exhibit which poked a bit of fun at iconic imagery from LDS history and culture: mint brownies, seagulls, jello and Brigham Young on a box of oats. It’s good when we can find humor in our lives.
There were several other inspiring contributions, to many to mention, including pieces by well-known LDS artists Brian Kershisnik and J. Kirk Richards (both of which are a couple of my favorites they’ve created). I’m grateful the curators reached outside of the traditional circle of well-known artists and allowed me to learn of and appreciate the work of other artists working in the contemporary arena.
I have often shared with friends, and frankly anyone who will listen to me, that any form of art can convey the Spirit and enlighten us with greater understanding and recognition of spiritual teachings. Elohim, is the Master Creator. I’m grateful He has shared the gift of creativity with all of us and equally glad there are those who are using this gift to create meaningful art which vibrates the tuning fork in my soul, allowing me to sense the power of divinity in the art I seek and encounter in my life.
B’well everyone and find the creative spark in you: gardening, baking, reasoning, problem solving, needlecraft, public speaking, construction and many more options. Creativity is a universal gift. I’m certain it is there.
— July 17, 2024
Gallery images credit: Angela Mason Photography
Scott Higginson lives in Mesa with his wife, Cindy. He is an art enthusiast and manages an online-original art gallery, FourSquare ART. He’s spent his professional career in government and public affairs.