Hildebrando de Melo is probably not a Mormon artist you’ve heard of. And that’s just the point. Mormon Arts Centerco-founders Glen Nelson and Richard Bushman believe that bringing lesser-known artists to the attention of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enriches the audience and can facilitate a more dynamic engagement with religious art.
From “Homing” In which our protagonist, a crabby aging mother and professor, drives from Salt Lake City to her father’s birthplace—Safford, Arizona—to visit an infant’s gravesite. Year: 2016. Grandma Anderson said one of the best…
After a painting by Emily Fox King
This blood, this longing was meant for
your particular darkness. That shadow,
the red droplet on the floor, a new wound:
These are mine to name. And in my name
you are known, no less worthy than your
brother. No less chosen for this canvas of
violence and change.
Today, I went to the new initiatory session. When I arrived, the cute workers excitedly whispered to each other, “we have a patron!” I was the first of the day. It felt so good to…
My earliest memory takes place in 1960s Wilkinsburg, where we lived while Dad finished his schooling at Carnegie Tech. Dark brick house and heavy gray sky. Warm, prickly air; a carpet of clover in the grass. A thick cement porch I loved, anchored with square pillars of the same black brick. Chipped concrete steps with graveled wounds and patches.
Every Tuesday morning, sky dark,
I rise to the temple. Today, by the
time we reach the Garden, the
actors need help with their lines.
The lost daughter woke up
and returned to herself,
and determined she no
longer wanted to be lost,
and determined to
return to her Mother.
One time, in the temple,
after looking, and smelling,
and asking, and listening,
a quietness spoke back
A ring of women
Spontaneously gathered round
Willing hands outstretched
Gently pulling, untwisting, unbraiding
Hello, God, small and obscure, distant twinkly point of light.
Perhaps, you are the portal and I am the time. I long
thought the other way ‘round.