Becca Snyder, After Eve Gallery Talks

I had the great opportunity to be part of the After Eve art exhibition, both as a designer and as an artist. This experience has given me a great deal of time to ponder womanhood, education, and the light of the gospel.

When I first got started on my project, the idea of education was something very formal and structured. You go to school, you come home, you study, you go back to school, etc. But as we explored education in terms of art and womanhood, my definition expanded to include visiting teaching experiences, conflicting opinions with roommates, local restaurant reviews, growing a garden, community service, meetings with my bishop, and hikes up to the Y.

Elaine Shaw Sorenson wrote an article for the Ensign in 1983 entitled “The Educated Woman Within Us.” In this article she writes:

The meaning of education is often assumed to be somehow related to “going to school” or learning as an external experience, related only to acquiring knowledge or skills helpful toward work productivity in society.

Education is . . . an unveiling of the natural thirst of the mind and soul, and subsequently their replenishment, refreshment, and expansion. Considered in its broadest sense, education may occur at school, at home, with family, at church, or even with an enlightening thought in a moment of solitude.

Education is more than learning. It is a complex interactive teaching and learning process.

I am grateful for the After Eve art exhibition because each artist has explored how education has influenced them individually. For some it has been learning to take risks, for others it has been passing knowledge to the next generation and learning from one another, and for me it was understanding how to find balance in all the varieties of my life.

If you have not seen the exhibition yet, I encourage you to come and enjoy the work as you ponder educated women and their far-reaching influence. For deeper views into the art, we also invite you to join our upcoming gallery talk on the 23rd of March where three artists will be discussing their work.

– Rebecca Snyder, Graphic Design Major

Because Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we are given life and the opportunity to learn and to grow. Through seeking and obtaining knowledge we can continue to develop and one day become like our Heavenly Father. Eve’s choice and the choices of our forbears place us in a position to gain an education.

The After Eve exhibition is full of an array of understandings of how women have affected one’s learning. Not all of the artists are female. The insight of these ideas from a male perspective is both unique and inspiring. The mixed media throughout the exhibition gives an intriguing and thought-provoking view on the traditional concepts of education. We invite all to wander upstairs and enjoy After Eve.

- Brittany Dahlin, Education in Zion Gallery Educator, Art History Major