according to collectors Cris and Janae Baird
of the Cris and Janae Baird Collection of Contemporary Art.

originally published June 2020

Cris and Janae Baird began acquiring art by Latter-day Saints early in their marriage. By 2011, their passion grew to a collection. In a profile of their collection in Fine Art Connoisseur magazine in 2021, they reflected the reasons they collect, namely that they wanted, “our collection to say something about both the reality of the human condition and the beauty and meaning represented in our faith.”

Later, they documented their collection and shared it with an instagram feed: @thebairdcollection.

Images included below are used with permission from the artists.

1

Wulf Barsch (American, born Germany, 1943)

The Book of Abraham (1985)
fine press book, 19 folios, each 9.5 x 15 inches, unbound in linen box, 37 leaves, edition of 35, plus 14 hors de commerce; Wayne Kimball (lithographer), Day Christensen (designer and printer)
Private collection

2

Brian Kershisnik (American, born 1962)

She Will Find What is Lost (2013)
oil on canvas, 132 x 96 inches
Church History Museum

3

John Hafen (American, 1856-1910)

Girl Among the Hollyhocks (1902)
oil on canvas, 36 x 41 inches
Church History Museum

4 

Lisa DeLong (American/British, born 1974)

Parable of the Seed (c. 2015)
Gold leaf, lapis lazuli, vermillion, gum Arabic, Rotring, handmade watercolor on marbled paper, 22.5 x 29.5
Private collection

5

Valerie Atkisson de Moura (American, born 1971) 

Hanging Family History (Patriarchally Oriented) (2000)
copper wire, rice paper, ink, 13 x 2 x 2 feet
Brigham Young University Museum of Art

6

J. Kirk Richards (American, born 1976)

Every Knee Shall Bow (2008)
oil on canvas, 72 x 222 inches
Private collection

7

Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert (American, 1888–1976)

Christ in a Red Robe (1945)
Church History Museum

8

Ultra Violet (Isabelle Dufresne) (American, born France, 1935-2014)

Self Portrait (c. 2012)
acrylic and glass, 25 x 25 inches
Private collection

9

Joseph Paul Vorst (American, born Germany, 1897-1947)

For Thine Is the Kingdom (ca. 1944) 
oil on canvas on panel, 51.125 x 41.875 inches
Saint Louis Art Museum, Eliza McMillan Trust

10

Justin Wheatley (American, born 1980)

Prodigal Son (2012)
acrylic on cradled panel, 12 x 24 inches
Church History Museum