KIRA DAVIS: ART GALLERY

A couple weeks ago, I dragged Michael along with me to a store in the Provo River bottoms. Previously known as Zion's Mercantile & co., I was on the hunt for a blessing gift. Ramona was receiving her blessing the following Sunday and I thought it might be nice for her to have something tangible later in life to remember how special it was. This store kept coming to mind, and I remembered this book I really wanted to get for her last time we walked through. Really pregnant at the time, and still in school, "Aesop's Fables," stood out to me, because I remembered learning about these particular stories in my children's literature class. The book had nothing to do with Ramona's blessing day, but it was an item that I continued to think about after leaving the store, so I justified the purchase. I figured they might have something a little more sentimental there I could snag too.

When we walked into the store, it was in full swing of being remodeled. The new sign featured their new name. Heirloom & Art co. The store was still open for business despite being under renovation, but I sensed they didn't really want customers in there while they were setting things up. I asked about the book, but it was out of stock. So we began to browse the store quickly, because I felt a little rushed to get out. Hoping something might stand out as a gift for our little babe, I was immediately drawn to some new paintings they were putting up and couldn't help but start imagining what walls I would place them on in my home. Unfortunately they were all originals, and I didn't quite have the $13,000-50,000 pocket cash. We ooed and awed and ultimately left the store empty handed.

I decided to follow them on instagram, hoping maybe I'd get an update about the prints of the originals sometime in the future. Ramona's blessing day came and went, and she happily continued on with life giftless. A few weeks passed and while scrolling through my instagram feed I recognized those beautiful paintings in a picture posted by the store. They were having a dinner and presentation about the art, which happened to be by early Mormon Missionaries. They were specifically called and sent to Paris to learn to paint in one of the most prestigious schools. I sent Michael the link to the event and crossed my fingers he would be interested. He immediately text back "Sounds fun, let's do it!" I think it was our first officially planned date night we have had since Ramona's birth. We have quickly learned the hard way that "figuring it out as we go," usually leads to a mediocre evening with higher stress levels than necessary. So I eagerly anticipated our date night for the next week.

The dinner was really good, but the presentation about the missionaries was by far my favorite. I never took an art history class, and I began to feel that I had really missed out. The stories about these 5 missionaries were fascinating. Afterwards we browsed the art gallery and got to see the paintings again in a whole new light. Michael turned to me and expressed his desire to break out the brushes and paints again (did I mention we began dating while taking a painting class in college?). The night definitely left us both feeling inspired and inadequate. These men were amazing artists. The speaker summed up his presentation with a quote by John Hafen (one of the 5 missionaries) that will forever stay with me.

“The influence of art is so powerful in shaping our lives for a higher appreciation of the creations of our God that we cannot afford to neglect an acquaintance with it. We should be as eager for its companionship in our homes as we are eager for chairs to sit upon, or for food to sustain our lives; for it has as important a mission in shaping our character and conducing to our happiness as anything we term necessities. Life is incomplete without Art.

A religious life is not an ideal religious life without it."

We slowly made our way back home, with "Aesop's Fables," in hand and a vow to each other that we would try to add a piece of artwork into our home each Christmas season. A tradition that would now hold a lot of meaning to us, and also give us time to figure out which painting (print of the painting, because we are not millionaires!) we want this season. Ramona never got a sentimental blessing gift we initially set out for, but hopefully she will have some inspiring artwork in her home growing up and learn a few morals from the fables that will be read to her.

Here is a link to a little more information about the missionaries. Early Mormon Art Missionaries