Springville Museum of Art

Last week I went with my friend Cliff to the Springville Museum of Art Sculpture Garden dedication. My other good friend Abram helped a lot with the planning and the media relations for the event. Wow, it was really neat! Elder Oaks spoke and then dedicated the garden. It is beautiful and it was a neat experience to hear an apostle speak in a more "casual," smaller setting.

The garden is full of sculptures from older and newer artists, including Cyrus E. Dallin. Elder Oaks told the story about how Dallin flew from back east to Springville in 1932 for the dedication of his sculpture of a woman pioneer in the Springville park. Elder Oaks mentioned that Dallin marvelled at how quickly he was able to get from the east coast to Utah, a feat which took the pioneers several months. A plane ride that is now a few hours was a 25-hour trip for Dallin in '32. Elder Oaks' mother was at that dedication more than 70 years ago and decided to name the child she gave birth to only days later Dallin.

Dallin was not a member of the Church although his parents were. When asked to sculpt the Angel Moroni statue for the Salt Lake Temple, he declined at first but later agreed to the job. He later said,

"My angel Moroni brought me nearer to God than anything I ever did."

The whole event was fun and interesting. I'm so glad I had the chance to go! Good work Abram!