Earthbound and Heavenward

Unknown Artist, 'Jesus and the Woman at the Well,' no date, stained glass, 103 x 70 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, gift of Stanford C. Stoddard, 2013.

Disciples of Christ often sense the gap between where they are and where they'd like to be. Throughout the history of Christian art, artists have grappled with this "sacred distance" and, to our pleasant surprise, demonstrated how often we find heaven approaching us in mundane, everyday details. In Earthbound and Heavenward—a religious exhibition featuring dozens of artworks from the MOA permanent collection and new works by living artists—saints, sinners, pupils, and prophets alike will find their hopes, beliefs, struggles, and successes reflected in more than five centuries of artistic wonder.