For Minerva Teichert there were only two reasons to paint—either a thing must be very beautiful or it must be an important story. Both reasons apply to her Book of Mormon paintings: they are beautiful, and they also tell a very important story, one that Teichert loved and was determined to tell through her masterful art. 

Minerva Kolhepp Teichert (1888-1976) lived most of her life in rural Idaho and Wyoming. By the time she started painting, she had reared five children, pitched hay, broken horses, raised chickens, homesteaded by herself, and all the while had painted in her living room and recited Book of Mormon scriptures on almost any given occasion. From these rather unlikely foundations, she pushed herself out to fulfill her desire to become an artist with an excellent academic training at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students' League in New York City.