Brothers and sisters I invite you to celebrate Mormon Arts Sunday this Sunday, June 8, 2014, and, from now on (unless we change it again) every second Sunday in June.
BACKGROUND
Mormon Arts Sunday started back in February 2013 when Scott Hales suggested a wear a black beret to Church day. That post was both inspired by and somewhat spoofing the feminist activism of the time of wearing pants to church, but the more some of us thought about it, the more interesting an idea it became. Scott expanded on the idea and then I explained why I wore a maroon tie to church that day. And when February rolled around this year, I kind of forgot about it, but Theric made sure the Berkeley Ward observed it in February.
But since we missed February, and since I don’t want to compete with Scout Sunday, and since AMV was founded in June (by the way: this is our 10th anniversary), we landed on the second Sunday in June.
Kent Larsen is already on board. He serves in a bishopric so he is able to influence the theme of sacrament meeting. But not all of us serve in a bishopric, so…
OBSERVANCE
- Wear a beret or a dark red/maroon item to church this Sunday. Dark red is AMV’s color, but it’s also a good color to represent Mormon Arts Sunday — it’s rich and vibrant and not generally a color that people wear to church all the time. Purple would also work. Wear purple if you’d prefer.
- Wear a cockroach accessory (not my personal reference, but see the Scott Hales posts above for an explanation).
- If you are talking or teaching this Sunday, include a piece of Mormon literature or visual art in your talk or lesson. The right poem can work quite well for that. One good source for that is the winners of the Eliza R. Snow Poetry Contest, which the Ensign used to run.
- Bring a work of Mormon art to church or to a home/visiting teaching appointment and share it with someone who you think would appreciate it.
- Do this on Saturday, but: buy a work of Mormon art. Something from Zarahemla Books, maybe. Or a Whitney Awards winner. Or from whatever your favorite purveyor of Mormon art may be (tell us in the comments).
- Have a special Sunday edition Family Home Evening where you consume and/or discuss a work of Mormon art.
That’s all I have. What suggestions do you have? How else could we observe Mormon Arts Sunday?
A Motley Vision 
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When I was a teenager I had maroon corduroy pants. I was such a trendsetter.
The height of Sunday fashion for teenage boys in mid-80s Provo was some combination of gray, maroon and pink. The classic combo was oxblood penny loafers, gray trousers, pink shirt, and knit maroon tie.
We have a large group from our stake coming over to our house to do a reading of Eric’s “Gadianton.” We’ll see how this goes!
Awesome. That’s an excellent idea.
Scott Hales provides an even better reason to hold it in June: “Second, June was the month when the first works of Mormon literature were published in The Evening and Morning Star in 1832.” Read more at his Modern Mormon Men post.