Tabernacle celebrated in exhibit
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The new Tabernacle exhibit at the Museum of Church History and Art doesn't ask visitors to imagine the building's rich past — here its history is placed on dramatic, physical display. Standing tall near the middle of "The Salt Lake Tabernacle: Gathering the Saints Under One Roof" is a full-size replica of a section of roof trusses that helped form the Tabernacle's familiar domed-shaped roof in the late 1800s.
Visitors get an up-close view of Tabernacle architecture previously seen only by construction workers.
"This full-size roof section is a 'wow' part of this exhibit," said museum curator Richard Oman. "Everyone who has watched us construct it has been astonished that we would even attempt to re-create a part of the roof in the gallery."
Indeed, the Tabernacle exhibit is believed to be the museum's most technically complex display since its Salt Lake Temple centennial exhibit in 1993. Replete with historical photographs and drawings, video monitors and several large-scale construction display stations, the Tabernacle exhibit both educates and celebrates the building's remarkable past and purpose.
The dedication of the Tabernacle, which took place on March 31, is certain to prompt new interest in the building. Appropriately, the exhibit begins with an explanation of the word "Tabernacle", exploring its biblical origins. Also highlighted is the massive tentlike tabernacle that Joseph Smith hoped to build outside the Nauvoo Temple as a gathering place for the early saints. That tabernacle was never constructed — but helped inspire the building of the Salt Lake Tabernacle years later.
Beyond the roof truss display, the exhibit offers visual displays highlighting the Tabernacle's distinctive exterior. Tools and other aged building items — including some that were discovered during the Tabernacle's recent renovation — can also be inspected. Much attention is also given to the building's pipe organ and prominent place in American music history. Credit is given to the resourceful Tabernacle designers and laborers who built a timeless structure using limited resources.
Near the end of the exhibit is a wooden dais and pulpit built by museum workers to re-create the sort of speaker's stand 19th-century Church leaders would have used to address the early members gathered in the Tabernacle. The pulpit is a departure from what contemporary audiences are accustomed. Its design allows would-be speakers, in dramatic fashion, to lean forward into their audience as they discourse on gospel truths.
The Tabernacle experience for many members is likely defined, in part, by those hard wooden benches built by the pioneers. Three rows of those original benches are included in this exhibit, allowing visitors a firm, familiar seat with limited leg room as they watch video clips of Church presidents — ranging from George Albert Smith to Gordon B. Hinckley — speaking at the Tabernacle pulpit.
"The Salt Lake Tabernacle: Gathering the Saints Under One Roof" will stay open until January 2009. The museum is located at 45 N. West Temple in Salt Lake City and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Sunday and most holidays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
E-mail to: jswensen@desnews.com
