Challenges and Opportunities

          I personally don't see how being a Mormon artist is different from being a regular artist other than the fact that I can paint pictures of Joseph Smith and it would acceptable.  (It might be a little weird if a Hindu artist painted a scene of the First Vision.  But then again, maybe not.)  So, I do not think that we have any challenges or opportunities that are unique from other artists.  Well, there is one challenge I can think of.  There may be a lot of people that interchange members of the Church with the Church itself.  So, if people know you are Mormon, they might think that what you do is endorsed by the LDS Church.  And that is the challenge.  If you're creating stupid humor, people are going to think that Mormons have a weird sense of humor.  If you create things that are masochistic, patriotic, uplifting chauvinistic, crude, ignorant, tolerant, religious, or non-religious, people may associate that with the church.  And that's really the only challenge I can think of: how your art might reflect the church.  And as for opportunities, the Church has competitions and what not.


          We can find compelling stories of light anywhere really.  I've seen movies, commercials, music and books with stories of light.  Pan's Labyrinth is essentially the Plan of Salvation and has an overall theme of obedience.  In the very first blog post, I posted a link to a life-insurance commercial that touches on forgiveness and love.  The Kite Runner deals with redemption.  Stan is a warning of taking things to the extreme.  The Professional involves sacrifice and personal growth.  Lord of the Flies shows the possible dangers of disobedience to laws.  These kind of stories can be found everywhere, with in and with out of the Church.  You just need to know where to look.