You’ve probably seen pictures of her paintings in Church buildings or magazines. But Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert’s life didn’t begin with lots of art classes. In fact, she didn’t even get much formal education as a small child.
When she was just 14 years old, Minerva left her home in Utah to work as a nursemaid in San Francisco. It was there she first saw an art museum. She worked hard to earn enough money for art classes and went to both the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League of New York.
Minerva felt a strong spiritual prompting to marry a man named Herman Teichert, who wasn’t a member of the Church. They raised a family on a cattle ranch in Wyoming. In 1933—after years of supporting Minerva in her religious devotion—Herman was baptized.
Minerva felt equally prompted to express her faith through her art. While raising her family, Minerva managed to find time to paint hundreds of paintings. In addition to painting a series of murals focused on the Book of Mormon, she was commissioned to paint the murals in the Manti Utah Temple—which are still up today!
Faith can move (and paint!) mountains.
Notes
Read more about Minerva’s life and artwork here.