Humanities
Spencer W. Kimball “The Gospel Vision of the Arts”
President Kimball states that all LDS artists “must be faithful, inspired, active Church members to give life and feeling and true perspective to a subject so worthy”. This subject he mentions is the full story of Mormonism which has yet to be written or painted or sculpted or spoken. To be faithful in the church is one of the main characteristics President Kimball thinks all LDS artists should have because it is essential to all other characteristics. To be faithful is defined as being strict or thorough in the performance of a duty. This relates a lot to our church. We are given callings and opportunities to serve. We strive to be faithful in our callings so that we can teach others what they need to learn and be able to achieve a greater understanding of what we believe. In relation to the arts, we must be thorough and strict in the performance to portray something through the art and achieve the purpose of teaching others what we believe. Inspiration is a gift our Father in Heaven has given us so that we may see small truths here on earth. President Kimball says that “with the inspiration of heaven, [our writers and motion picture specialists] should tomorrow be able to produce a masterpiece which would live forever”. God has all power and abilities to teach his children the truths of the gospel and he gives us a glimpse of this power through inspiration. Young artists in the church today can acquire inspiration through nothing more than following the commandments and keeping the Holy Ghost with them at all times. Imagine the work of famous artists with the inspiration from God. Their masterpieces would most certainly “live forever”. The third characteristic President Kimball mentions is that young artists must be active church members. Artists must be active in their work if they want to achieve success in what they are working on. In parallel, we must be active church members to achieve the goal of spreading the gospel and eventually eternal life. President Kimball says that “we must recognize that excellence and quality are a reflection of how we feel about ourselves and about life and about God. If we don’t care much about these basic things, then such not caring carries over into the work we do, and our work becomes shabby and shoddy”. This statement is so true. In order to produce a great work of art or a masterpiece we must care about the most important things in our lives. We must be active church members, as well as active human beings in the way we perceive our lives. Brigham Young is quoted as saying, “Every accomplishment, every polished grace, every useful attainment in mathematics, music, and in all sciences and art belong to the saints”. President Kimball’s vision for the arts within the church is that we should be “peers or superiors to any others in natural ability,