New JFSB exhibit explores link between faith and education
February 11, 2009
A new exhibit featuring the history of education in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is now open in the gallery of the Joseph F. Smith Building. Three years in the making, the exhibit, “Education in Zion” also depicts the rise of Brigham Young University.
John Tanner, BYU vice president of academics, says the exhibit “offers an important means to pass on the best traditions of education in Zion.
“It keeps the flame alive that has lighted the Y over the years,” says Tanner. “I encourage everyone to visit and learn, for we are all players in handing off the BYU tradition to succeeding generations.”
Most of the research for the exhibit was done by students. The exhibit also features artwork created primarily by students, including two large murals: one of the Kirtland Temple and the other of the Brigham Young Academy and Karl G. Maeser Memorial buildings.
For exhibition hours and additional information, visit educationinzion.byu.edu.
A PLACE TO PONDER AND LEARN
C. Terry Warner, the exhibit’s foudning director, says that throughout the exhibit educational pioneers are highlighted. “Their stories inspire our students and visitors as they identify with our educational forbearers and come to understand the sacrifices and ingenuity of those who came before.”
At groundbreaking ceremonies for the Joseph F. Smith building in May 2002 President Thomas S. Monson said he hoped that the memory of President Smith would permeate the building. “Joseph F. Smith truly was a pioneer, not only in his trek across the plains, but also in setting the standard of love and of how we might follow the pathway to eternal life.”
The Joseph F. Smith Building occupies the area of campus where the Joseph F. Smith Family Living Center once stood. Construction of the new building was funded entirely by donors. In addition to the exhibit space, the building houses BYU’s two largest colleges—the College of Humanities and the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences—and two campus stakes.
