Art and Spirituality: The Visual Culture of Christian Faith

Since 1998 the Brigham Young University Museum of Art has hosted the biennial Art, Belief, Meaning Symposium. The purpose of the symposium is to provide
an opportunity for Latter-day Saint artists, critics, and commentators to contribute to the ongoing discussion about issues related to art and spirituality. Our goal is to articulate our interest in the making of art that not only is relevant and meaningful for our day, but which also bears witness and gives perspective to the realities that flow from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

The symposium provides a welcome forum for discussion regarding issues that have always concerned serious religious artists:

• What is the role of the artist in relation to the mission of the Church?
• What is the place of self expression, belief, and inspiration in religious art?
• Do artists have a “mission” through their work?
• How does individual testimony find expression in the work of the artist?
• Does religion create untenable tensions in the expression of the artist?
• What is the relationship between idea and technique in religious art?
• Can religious art find expression through contemporary art movements?

This series provides an opportunity for like-minded believers, those with deep and often passionate interests in the arts, to come together, reason together, and benefit from each others’ points of view. Hopefully others who find themselves confronted by similar issues will benefit from a careful reading of these essays.