Faith, art and determination: How two women created Canada’s first-of-its-kind art showcase

When Amanda Taylor of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, heard about an exhibit in Mesa, Arizona, a few years ago, featuring gospel-themed works by Latter-day Saint artists, she felt a spark of inspiration she couldn’t ignore — surely Alberta could host such an exhibit featuring art created by Canadian members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

That thought led to Great Treasures of Gold, an art exhibition in Calgary, Nov. 7–28, featuring 90-plus pieces of art by more than 50 Latter-day Saint artists from across Canada who created visual expressions of faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ — the first show of its kind in the country.

Doubling efforts

Taylor, who lives in Alberta and is expecting her fourth child, began by sending out a call for art. However, without an official Church calling and organizing the show independently, some were hesitant to post her message at first.

She prayed for help — and Mary-Margaret Pilling, who lives in British Columbia with her husband and three children, came to mind. The two Canadian women had met as students at Brigham Young University a few years earlier and had kept in touch as friends. Pilling hesitated at first.

“We both have young families and other commitments,” she said. “But after a few days, I realized I could actually really help — I’d done some curatorial work before. It just felt right.”

Together, Taylor and Pilling volunteered their time, energy and creativity to bring the exhibit to life — a thought that soon became a journey of learning how God helps His children as they work.

Faith with works

The art show would need funding to rent a facility and cover other related expenses. Taylor said she was not worried about that at first, expecting the same private sponsor of the Arizona show would fund this show. But when that organization told her it doesn’t work with outside curators, she realized the biggest obstacle wasn’t artists or vision — it was funding. That moment could have ended the project, but Taylor and Pilling did not give up.

“I went in with this idea that if I have faith, it will work out — and then it really didn’t work out the way we hoped,” Taylor explained.

She and Pilling admitted that what already seemed like a big project became even more work than they expected. Yet pressing forward with prayer and determination, they saw doors open, and ways were provided.

They found community and private sponsors. They built a submission website, organized entries and eventually received nearly 300 submissions. Taylor, Pilling and Pilling’s father-in-law, Michael Pilling, carefully juried the collection down to 70 pieces.

The final exhibit included paintings, stained glass, sculpture, fabric art and photography — featuring familiar gospel themes: Lehi’s dream, temples, ancestors, scenes from scripture and portraits of Christ.

A sacred space

Art pieces began arriving from across the country. The co-curators were delighted as they unpacked each piece. Pilling recalled their excitement: “When we were unboxing them, we kept saying, ‘Oh, this is better than we thought. Oh, this is bigger than we thought.’”

They found a multiuse building with space to display the art but were skeptical of the venue at first. Taylor said that once the art was hung, something remarkable happened — “it became a sacred space.”

While setting up, other people in the building entered the halls to see what was happening. Pilling recalled one man quietly moving through recognizing scenes of biblical accounts.

When the man came to two pieces of art depicting Moroni and Enos, prophets from the Book of Mormon, he stopped and said, “I don’t know this one.“ Pilling told him that they were from another book of scripture and shared a bit about their stories.

Works of testimony

Elder James E. Evanson, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Canada Area presidency, toured the exhibit with his wife, Sister Jody Evanson, and Elder Douglas W. Atwood, an Area Seventy.

“Artistic expression is an act of creation and connects us to our Father in Heaven, who is the Creator of all things,” Elder Evanson said. “When we use our talents to praise Him and witness of His Son, the Holy Ghost is present in those works of art.”

Sister Evanson said she “felt deep appreciation for [the artists’] skill to share the Spirit of God through art.”

Elder Atwood felt each artist’s testimony of Jesus Christ was “manifest in every detail” of their art.

“There was such a feeling of peaceful reverence,” he said.