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By Kent Larsen
LDS Church Goes With Large In New Plaza Creches
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- The LDS Church is following dozens of local LDS
congregations and has created a display of Christmas Creches from around the
world. But the Church's display is also very different from these displays;
instead of hundreds of creches, the Church's display, on its new main street
plaza, has just four, the creches were created by Church-commissioned
artisans, while those in other displays were generally purchased or made by
private individuals, and the figures in the creche's are much larger than
usual -- 2 feet (.6 meters) to 4 feet (1.2 meters) high.
For more than 30 years the Church has included a life-sized nativity on
Temple Square as part of its Christmas decorations. The purchase and
construction of the controversial main street plaza has allowed the Church
to be more creative, leading Church employee Christena Gates, who is in
charge of the plaza's decorations, to commission the work from different
artisans.
The display includes nativities from Poland, Alaska's Tlinket tribe, Japan
and from Africa. The Salt Lake Tribune article gives descriptions of each
creche.
Meanwhile, list members have told Mormon News about three additional
displays in Ojai, Upland and Santa Rosa, California, which we have added to
our list of possible displays (see below). Additions or corrections to our
list are welcome.
List of Creche Exhibit locations:
Tempe, Arizona
Aliso Viejo, California
La Crescenta, California
Ojai, California
Orange County, California
Palo Alto, California
Santa Rosa, CA
Thousand Oaks, California
Upland, CA Stake
Boulder, Colorado
Washington, DC
Grantville, Georgia
Columbus, Indiana
Adrian, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Howell, Michigan
Livonia, Michigan
Midland, Michigan
Minnesota
Las Vegas, Nevada
Hampton, New Hampshire
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Columbus, Ohio
Liberty Township, Ohio
Corvallis, Oregon
Forest Grove, Oregon
Medford, Oregon
State College, Pennsylvania
Texas
Bedford, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
Midway, Utah
Providence, Utah
Provo, Utah (BYU Art Museum)
Provo, Utah
Franklin, Virginia
Oakton, Virginia
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Burns Lake, B.C., Canada
Chilliwack, B.C., Canada
Horsefly, B.C., Canada
Kamloops, B.C., Canada
Kelowna, B.C., Canada
Penticton, B.C., Canada
Powell River, B.C., Canada
Prince George, B.C., Canada
Salmon Arm, B.C., Canada
Vernon, B.C., Canada
White Rock, B.C., Canada
Source:
The World at the Plaza: Main Street nativities reflect the global diversity of LDS Church
Salt Lake Tribune 9Dec00 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack: Salt Lake Tribune
SR Church Gathers 500 Creches
Santa Rosa Press Democrat 1Dec00 D1
By George Lauer: The Press Democrat
Mormons use a Victorian Christmas theme to display international nativity scenes
See also:
Creches, Lights, Choirs Are Public Face of Mormon Christmas
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