Explore Three Exhibits at BYU’s Museum of Art that Capture America’s Diverse History and Culture
From the evergreen eastern forests to the towering mountains of the West, artists have sought to capture America’s beauty throughout its history. Several exhibits at BYU's Museum of Art (MOA) highlight noteworthy American artists and the significance behind their works.
The three exhibits include: “Crossing the Divide: American Art from the Permanent Collection,” Homeward to the Prairie I Come: Gordon Parks Photographs from the Beach Museum of Art” and “Mimi Chen Ting: Make Movement Visible.”
Museum of Art curators, Miri Kim and Dr. Issac King, worked together to bring the galleries to life.
Crossing the Divide: American Art from the Permanent Collection
The first exhibit, “Crossing the Divide: American Art from the Permanent Collection,” features works representing early and contemporary America. The exhibit is designed to provoke viewers to draw comparisons between different locations and time periods.
“America is large and sometimes not inherently connected,” King said. “There are different regions, people and time periods encompassed in the idea of what America is.”
Displaying different perspectives, the exhibit places seemingly similar paintings close together, which forces viewers to compare and contrast.
“Most of the works are in pairs or small groups, trying to demonstrate differences in approach or perspective to a similar issue,” said King.
The gallery is not organized chronologically. Rather, it is organized around five themes that emerge from the artwork: Visions, Manifests, Wayfarers, A New Age and Perspectives.
In the Visions section, visitors can draw comparisons between two paintings hanging side by side. Conrad Heyd’s “Leurenkill,” painted in the early 1860s, depicts a tannery depleting the surrounding woods to make leather goods. The tannery owners were tasked with making shoes for the soldiers, rather than fighting in the Civil War themselves. In contrast, the neighboring painting, William Bliss Baker’s “Fallen Monarchs,” painted in 1886, depicts a lush forest in upstate New York.
“Before the 1860s, Americans saw nature as inexhaustible,” King said. “As industry and technology increased, there came a greater awareness of the need to conserve and protect these types of resources.”
According to Kim, “Fallen Monarchs” prompts “an argument of a forest untouched by human hands, but also made possible because of human intervention through legislation.”
The exhibit shows how each time period and the demand for resources shaped Americans’ relationship with nature. It also highlights themes of community and family.
Standing in the middle of one of the gallery rooms is “Blanket Stories: Ancestor, Baron Woolen Mill, and Hill People,” created by Marie Watt in 2013. Watt stacked blankets donated by community members 12 feet high and attached tags with personal stories written by contributors about the everyday household item.
“She's taken something familiar, mundane, utilitarian and stacked the blankets up so high that it renders the blankets almost unfamiliar or strange,” Kim said.
Kim emphasized the significance of blankets as an everyday object: “Blankets are sometimes passed down as family heirlooms. People are hinted at through the blankets, which represent a wide range of memories, histories, experiences and relationships.”
What we may see as just a blanket has history and meaning behind it.
“Crossing the Divide: American Art from the Permanent Collection” will be on display at the MOA through 2029.
Homeward to the Prairie I Come: Gordon Parks Photographs from the Beach Museum of Art
“Homeward to the Prairie I Come” is an exhibit celebrating Gordon Parks, a 20th-century African American photographer and writer whose work challenged racial biases through an artistic lens. Parks donated the collection to Kansas State University in 1973, and it includes works from 1948 to 1973.
The exhibit was curated by King, who says that leading up to the 250th anniversary of America, the MOA “wanted an exhibition that highlighted United States history, including the Civil Rights Movement and the achievements of African American artists like Gordon Parks.”
“Parks used documentary photography to share narratives, from the African American experience to things overseas,” King said. “He did stories documenting segregation in Alabama, the Black Panthers, the Black Muslims and underrepresented activities leading up to and through the Civil Rights Movement.”
Amongst the images hanging in the gallery are photographs documenting boxer Muhmand Ali; gangs in Harlem, New York; and poverty in America and Brazil. Additionally, the exhibit features photos Parks took of his segregated hometown of Fort Scott, Kansas, and his semiautobiographical book “The Learning Tree.”
“I hope visitors can appreciate the heroism behind documenting difficult topics and trying to represent those as truthfully as possible,” King said.
Don’t miss the chance to visit this powerful and artistic exhibit, which will be on display until Nov. 21, 2026.
Mimi Chen Ting: Make Movement Visible
A third gallery worth exploring is titled “Mimi Chen Ting: Make Movement Visible.” The Chinese American artist produced numerous paintings from the 1960s to the early 2020s while juggling art, dance and motherhood.
Kim, who curated the exhibit, emphasises a quote by Mimi Chen Ting that is fundamental to her art. It states: “Make movement visible and harness it within casings called lines, thereby forming shapes.”
“This quote reveals the motivation behind her art: to make movement visible,” Kim said. “It is an announcement, an invitation and a set of instructions.”
Kim hopes that the exhibit introduces people to the art and life of the Asian American artist.
“After growing up in Shanghai and Hong Kong, she came to the U.S. on a student visa,” Kim said “By learning more about Mimi Chen Ting and the history of Asian American art, we also learn more about U.S. history.”
Walking through the gallery, the artwork tells Mimi Chen Ting’s story of moving to the United States around the time the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was passed. Furthermore, the exhibit showcases her experience raising a family and honoring her culture through art.
“The exhibition touches upon not just historical and social movements, but also physical, artistic and musical movements,” Kim said.
The artwork in the show features abstract pieces, bold colors and geometric shapes.
“Her art looks like it was made by a protractor, compass or technical instrument,” Kim said. “But she free-handed everything, and even compared her own body to a protractor.”
Beyond paintings, the exhibit includes photographs and letters — one of which documents Mimi Chen Ting's commitment to her art as well as motherhood. Kim shared, “mothering is labor, and so is art making.”
In 2020, the artist underwent treatment for colon cancer before passing away in 2022. On display at the MOA is her last completed piece titled “Last Songs.”
Kim hopes that students who visit the exhibit can find inspiration in Mimi Chen Ting’s art and passion for her work.
“I hope students are inspired by Mimi's tenacity,” Kim said. “I want them to understand the art they create, not in isolation, but in dialogue with others.”
This exhibit will be available to visit from now until Oct. 10, 2026, so be sure to visit the museum before or while attending the Centennial Celebration for the College of Fine Arts and Communications this October.
To learn more about the MOA and its exhibits or schedule a tour, visit this link.
