Book of Mormon Central (BMC) holds a yearly art contest to encourage, highlight, and popularize new and original pieces of art inspired by the Book of Mormon. The 2017 BMC art contest featured artists from all over the world, from a variety of age groups, and included both amateur and professional artists.

The following are the winners and honorable mentions of the 2017 BMC art contest:

First Place

1. The Book of Mormon by Christian Joel Loor Pino

Christian is a freelance illustrator living in Ecuador. This piece interweaves some of the key events and symbols represented in the Book of Mormon. The Salt Lake Temple is featured in the center right, with the angel Moroni posed below. Nephi’s ship bound for the promised land is depicted in the center left, flanked by the Liahona. The entire piece is crowned with a depiction of the First Vision, as the final piece in the Book of Mormon’s narrative, and the beginning of the Restoration. This piece is meant to demonstrate how the Book of Mormon explores varied themes and ideas, yet connects and encapsulates them into one great whole.

Second Place

2. I Saw Another Angel Fly by Jorge Cocco

Jorge Cocco is both a participant and an educator in the fine arts, having been an art professor at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla in Mexico. The title of this piece comes from Revelation 14:6–7, and depicts the Angel Moroni sounding a horn and bearing the gold plates. Moroni is a pivotal person in the creation, safekeeping, delivery, and translation of the Book of Mormon, and thus became a key element in the development of the Restored Gospel. Jorge Cocco has coined the term sacrocubism to describe many of his paintings that merge the familiarity and sacred nature of religious topics, with the aesthetic of the post-cubist school. While the artist makes the subject explicit, his aesthetic style subconsciously conveys that there are more details yet to be unveiled.

Third Place

3. Jesus Christ Blessing the Sacrament by Brooke Malia Mann

Brooke Malia Mann is an art teacher for individuals with mental impairments and is also a freelance illustrator. Christ’s visit to the people in the Americas is one of the most powerful scriptural accounts in the whole Book of Mormon. This piece depicts the moment when Christ administers the sacrament to the Nephites. This piece is meant to span all ages so that even children can relate to and love the scriptures.

Honorable Mention

4. I Would Ask, Can Ye Feel So Now Brenna Miller

"This figurine was inspired by a verse in the Book of Mormon which reads: 'And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?' (Alma 5:26)"

5. Nephi's Vision of Christopher Columbus Jerime Hooley

"This is a clay sculpture depicting Christopher Columbus at the very moment that he sees what he describes in his journal as a light being raised and lowered on the distant horizon. Three others verify and this allows them to sail on, otherwise, the crew would have committed mutiny and taken over."

6. My Peace I Give Unto You Ashley Gordon

"I find great comfort from the Savior's declarations of peace and healing through the Atonement. His hand is always outstretched to offer help, support, and relief. The account of the visitation of the resurrected Christ in 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon is a direct fulfillment of His promise: 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you' found in John 14 in the New Testament."

7. Bamboo Turntable of Book of Mormon Scenes Mary Jane Smith

"The piece is a bamboo turntable 21' in diameter which has been designed, burned, and painted with acrylics depicting stories from the Book of Mormon, accompanied by the scriptures from which they come, and Moroni's promise written around the rim of the piece."

8. Alma's Bondage: In the Gall of Bitterness Tiffany Brazell

"In creating this image, I was thinking of Mosiah 27:29: 'My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.' This is his moment of epiphany."

Honorable Mention Youth Division

9. Christ with Little Boy Abby Topham

"I wanted to show the love and happiness that Christ shared with those around him. This image depicts a happy little boy with his arms wrapped around the Savior."

10. Sariah Chloe Spradling

"This work depicts the sorrow she must have felt not knowing if she will ever see her sons again after they went back to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates."