6 win Visitors Choice Awards at 12th International Art Competition

As the exhibition for the 12th International Church History Museum Art Competition draws to a close after more than eight months, six of the works on display have been announced as winners of the Visitors Choice Awards.

The winning entries were announced on Friday, February 24, the ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

The six that include a video entry were among the 148 pieces on display at the museum since June 9, 2022. Church History Museum the exhibition ends on March 4 but will always be digitally available.

The theme of the contest was All Are Alike Until God, from 2 Nephi 2:33 in the Book of Mormon.

The competition received artworks of various sizes and formats from more than 850 artists in some two dozen countries around the world.

The winners of the Purchase Awards and Merit Awards competitions were announced June 9, 2022 during a presentation in the Assembly Hall in Temple Square.

The Visitors’ Choice Award winners are:

Amy Bunnell Jones, Surrounded in the arms of his love

With arms wide open, the Savior seeks to connect his great creations to his love. As humanity remembers that they are children of God, they feel compelled to listen and understand others’ perspectives, Jones said.

Encircled in the arms of his love by Amy Bunnell Jones is one of six winners of the Visitors’ Choice Award at the 12th International Art Competition.

The Church of Jesus Christ or Latter Day Saints

We are all connected and therefore we must love each other deeply, purely and wholeheartedly, just as God loves us, Jones added.

Esther Hiilani Candari, as a loving parent

A parental hand guides a young child towards the love of God, symbolized by the white fruit of the tree of life. Inspired by Lehis desire to 1 Nephi 8 to share God’s love with her family, Candari said she selected role models she felt embodied that loving concern, with her neighbor Tara and her love for her nephew depicted in the book eager to share the friendship as examples of Christian charity.

Esther Hiilani Candaris As a Loving Parent An entry for the 12th International Art Competition shows a parental hand guiding a young child towards the love of God, symbolized by the white fruit of the tree of life.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I feel inspired by this parental instinct to guide their child to the good, true and enlightening things in this life and the next, Candari said.

Ester Kawai, Batchan (grandmother)

It is the only film with subtitles provided in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish among the six winners. (Click here For see the video.)

Ester Kawai’s Batchan (Grandma), an animated short created as a tribute and farewell letter to her grandmother, is one of six winners of the Visitors’ Choice Award at the 12th International Art Competition.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

This animated short is a tribute and a farewell letter to my grandmother, said Kawai, who in the video reflects on the sometimes incomplete ways God’s children touch each other in this life and the eternal promise offered in the temple that family relationships can continue forever.

Kelsy Lightweave, Common Thread

This entry depicts many hands showing differences in age, race, and culture reaching for the iron rod described by the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi in his dream (1 Nephi 8:19). The hands represent those holding their quest for the common tree of life united as they embark on the path that leads to eternal life.

Common Thread by Kelsy Lightweave showing different hands reaching for the iron rod depicted in the Book of Mormon is one of six winners of the Visitors’ Choice Award at the 12th International Art Competition.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

This gift, or common thread, unites us in love and unity, marching toward the same goal and life-giving light, Lightweave said.

Michelle Franzoni Thorley, Make Room for Us

In Thorley’s work, Christ emerges from a brilliant floral arch and is surrounded by flowering cacti in a serene desert landscape.

Making Room for Us by Michelle Franzoni Thorley showing Christ emerging from a brilliant floral arch and surrounded by flowering cacti is one of six winners of the Visitors’ Choice Award at the 12th International Art Competition.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

That’s how I see Jesus, Thorley wrote, adding that she believes the Savior is as eager to come to her as she is to Him. It is in the hot pink bougainvillea of ​​Mexico. Her robes are the color of the earth. His skin is the color of the earth. His feet are the color of the earth. He will make room for me, even in the desert of my life, and the cacti will bloom and the butterflies will be there to encourage me to keep becoming the best version of myself.

Shelby Stroud, I remember those on the islands of the sea

Strounds’ work is based on the 2 Nephi 29:7 Scripture, Do you not know that I, the LORD your God, created all men, and remember those who are on the isles of the sea?

I Remember Those on the Islands in the Sea by Shelby Stroud, with over 25,000 seashells used to make a portrait, is one of six winners of the Visitors’ Choice Award at the 12th International Art Competition.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

After collecting seashells from Alabama, Florida and Mexico, Stroud placed more than 25,000 to create the portrait. No shell is forgotten and each contributes to the whole, Stround said, adding, “It is comforting to know that the Lord has not forgotten us and will not forget us.