Arnold Friberg was one of the pioneers in the LDS art world. He didn’t have specialized art galleries and the Internet to expose his work. Today that has all changed. Down in Prove is a blend of an LDS bookstore and art gallery called Olivewood. The owners seek to bring high-end literature and art to complement the LDS culture.
The store is dedicated to the finest of art and decided for the LDS niche they only sell quality.
LDS art still hasn’t achieved the sophistication, acclaim or interest of art critics from the leading art centers of Chicago or New York ─ even though the subjects merit it. LDS history is filled with great subject matter.
All the writings available at the store are the scholarly works of LDS authors including Hugh Nibley and Turman Madsen. The store also represents LDS artists Joseph Brickey, Robert Boyd, and Adam Abrams.
While the art and scholarly books are for sale, one display case offers items rich in LDS Church history that are not for sale. It includes an original copy of the Book of Mormon; copies of the death masks of church founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, both martyred in Carthage, Illinois.
Since the Arnold Friberg LDS art show opened at the Mesa Arizona Visitor’s center tons of people have come from all over to see Friberg’s twelve amazing and powerful Book of Mormon painting. Here are a few testimonials: “When I saw the art at The Mesa Visitor Center I was blown away, I Googled and found http://ldsartcollector.com. Both of your sites are great! Thanks so much.” -Clark G.
“I heard about the Mesa Show and had to go, it was better than I could have imagined. They even had Dustin Snow playing the great music heard on this site live at the Visitor Center. Thanks so much for organizing this, it really is awesome.” -Nikki
If you are headed to Salt Lake City for LDS general conference there are a two must sees.
Arnold Friberg’s original Book of Mormon art collection is on display inside the conference center. Friberg’s powerful collection changed the way the LDS church members view the Book of Mormon. A variety of art selections are used in the Mormon church’s “blue” Book of Mormon that missionaries use to teach investigators.
For those of you in the Mesa, Arizona area the art collection is currently on display at the temple visitor’s center.
LDS artist Mark Mabry’s powerful photography exhibit “Reflections of Christ,” is coming to Salt Lake City this Friday and Saturday for the Mormon general church’s conference at the Joseph Smith memorial building. Mabry’s attracted the attention of LDS church leaders who are now using the pictures in the missionary effort. For more information see ReflectionsofChrist.org
It is rumored that Arnold Friberg is the man behind the design of the CTR ring. Not true. The supposed artist behind that is Joel Izatt under the direction of Coy Miles.
Many artists claim to have designed the original CTR ring which is popular among LDS church members, but the most common belief is that Miles was the leader in directing the design. Miles never registered the ring design with the federal copyright office. And, in fact, the LDS church owns the copyright for the design.
Today, the symbol created for children adorns LDS community fingers across the globe. The CTR logo has been translated into Spanish (”Haz Lo Justo”) and dozens of other languages, including Romanian, Samoan and Hilgaynon. What was once an inexpensive, simple artistic token has now morphed into hundreds of styles available for prices from less than $1 to well over $200.
In 2005, LDS Church distribution services, internationally, distributed 522,455 new CTR rings in 24 languages. And that number doesn’t reflect the sales in stores such as Deseret Book nor the orders generated among licensed jewelry wholesalers.
Now there is still a slight connection between Friberg and the CTR. See Miles is the one that personally commissioned Friberg to commemorate the 100th anniversary of college football. Miles has said he would have to go sit with Friberg to make sure they were done on time.
The Mormon Times reports that Arnold Friberg is one of three artists who have their work on display during the 225th anniversary celebration of the Treaty of Paris, sponsored by the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and the American Revolution Museum at Valley Forge.
Friberg’s “The Prayer at Valley Forge,” will be on dispay. Th artists depicted George Washington kneeling in prayer besides his horse.
The art exhibition opened last week and continues through October 12 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Tens of thousands of prints of “The Prayer at Valley Forge” have been distributed worldwide.
The LDS church is hosting Arnold Friberg’s complete 12 piece Book of Mormon artwork collection at the Mesa, Arizona Temple Visitors Center starting September 27. Currently, the only way a person could experience the complete Friberg exhibit is if they went to the LDS conference center in downtown Salt Lake City.
The Friberg exhibit will run for six weeks.
The display will open to the public beginning Saturday, September 27. That evening local pianist, Dustin Snow, will perform LDS hymns he arranged for LDSArtcollector.com from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friberg is a native of Phoenix, Arizona.
Below is a sample video of what the Arnold Friberg Book of Mormon art exhibit will look and feel like.
LDSArtCollector.com is dedicated to the art of Arnold Friberg. This site focuses on his LDS art and the blog focuses on a variety of subjects about the artists life and other influential Mormon artists.
But the Web is full of sites about Arnold Friberg and his artwork. Here are a few influential ones I’ve come across:FribergFineArt.comThis site claims to be the exclusive publisher of Arnold Friberg, but that doesn’t include any of his LDS art. The site does sell a lot of Friberg’s work including some of his originals, NCAA football, and the Ten Commandments.Wikipedia.comIt seems all famous people have a wikipedia page. Arnold Friberg is no exception. The site gives brief biographical information, a run-down of his artwork, and includes links to other sites including this site.Arnold-Friberg.comThis site is very similar to fribergfineart.com, but it has less of a selection and does not sell originals. It does carry limited editions of Friberg’s Prayer At Valley Forge painting. And users can purchase stuff using paypal.McGillFineArt.comThis site also has a good selection of Arnold Friberg prints. The site is not as organized as FribergFineArt.com or Arnold-Friberg.com, but the prices are better. I wish the site had a gallery that matched up with their inventory page.
Arguable the most famous artist in the world right now is author Stephenie Meyer. If you don’t already know she is the author of the Twilight series about vampires and the sciFi novel The Host. She has four of the top 10 bestselling books in America and a raved fan base.
Ironically, like other famous LDS artists Arnold Friberg and DJ Bawden, Meyer is from Phoenix, Arizona. But unlike them she has not produced anything that is strictly LDS. Unless you count her author bio which prints in the first line that she graduated from LDS owned Brigham Young University. That is possibly the best recruiting tool the university has ever had.But she also fairly new to the scene having had her first book published in 2005.
In almost every article written about her it mentions how she was a Mormon house mom turned bestselling author. I think it’s funny how the media loves to put the word “Mormon” in there. It’s not like other artists are labeled Catholic or Jewish. She complained about that in a USA Today feature story.
The LDS church owned book store, Deseret Book, sells all five of her books. The Mormon church will only sell books that meet a strict moral standard. Many LDS church members have complained that Deseret Book sells them. This is also something Friberg and Meyer have in common, controversy from the LDS church members. Many Mormons did not agree with Friberg’s depictions of scenes from The Book of Mormon.
Erich Kunzel, one of America’s most distinguished conductors and a National Medal of Arts recipient, said this week that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is the best in the world.
This weekend, Kunzel will lead the Utah Symphony and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, as part of the Tanner Gift of Music Series, in a concert at the LDS Conference Center called “An American Songbook.” The LDS conference center also holds the original Arnold Friberg Book of Mormon paintings, so if you head down you can also check those out.
The National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government, is awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.
