Letter: Destroying Minerva Teichert’s work tells LDS female artists their work doesn’t matter

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Paintings by LDS artist Minerva Teichert are shown in the east Salt Lake City chapel in August 2020.

Can you name five LDS women artists?

Probably not. But can you name one?

To that, most everyone could probably answer Minerva Teichert. Among the hundreds of women artists throughout LDS art history that have contributed, mostly behind the scenes, to the artistic culture that we now have, the one that stands out is Minerva. And why is that? In my opinion it’s because she listened to her own voice and created a unique body of work.

Her work doesn’t look like anyone else’s. It definitely doesn’t look like the work that men who were her contemporaries were doing. It also doesn’t look like anything being made today.

When you choose to destroy her work, you are saying to the hundreds of amazing LDS women artists that are coming up in the ranks today that their work doesn’t matter. That their contribution is not as significant because it doesn’t fit into the male way of interpreting church stories.

We need Minerva because for LDS women artists she is the one we look up to. She is the one who fought tooth and nail and painted on burlap sacks and tablecloths just to get her message out. She represents the female side to the story.

And we, the other 51% of the church, want our side told.

Nancy Andruk Olson, Bountiful

Submit a letter to the editor

Return to Story