President Monson Honors Friend at Groundbreaking
Contributed By Chelsee Niebergall, Church News and Events
President Thomas S. Monson attended the groundbreaking for the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts and Education Complex at the University of Utah on June 14, 2011, and made some remarks about the building’s namesake, one of his lifelong friends.
“Beverley and I grew up in Salt Lake City during the same period,” President Monson said. “We experienced firsthand the Great Depression. We who passed through it came to recognize those things which matter most, not the least of which are kindness and compassion. Beverley has demonstrated these attributes throughout her life.”
Beverley Taylor Sorenson has been a lifelong advocate for arts education. A former elementary school teacher and the widow of biotechnology pioneer James LeVoy Sorenson, she also founded Art Works for Kids, an innovative program that integrates music, dance, theater and visual art into core subjects to improve overall learning and comprehension for elementary school students. Researching and facilitating teaching methods for such integration is one of the principal goals of the new center.
The complex carrying her name will house a newly created National Center for Integrated Arts into Academic Learning, guided jointly by the university’s Colleges of Education and Fine Arts.
