Chad Hawkins is an LDS artist and author renowned for his captivating sketches of temples around the world. His dedication to capturing the beauty and spiritual significance of these sacred structures has made him a beloved figure within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hawkins' journey began in high school and has evolved into a lifelong pursuit, culminating in his recent book, "Temples of the New Millennium," which shares the unique stories of the Church’s first 150 temples.
The Beginning of a Career
Hawkins drew his first temple sketch as a high school senior, an accomplishment that helped him win the State Sterling Scholar Award. Initially, he didn't envision it as a career path, but it turned out remarkably well. Every penny he earned from selling his art before his mission went towards funding his service.
Almost a year before he left, he completely paid for his mission just with temple drawings. While he was on his mission, his parents continued to sell his art, filling orders for him.
He graduated from Weber State with a Bachelors of Fine Art and realized that he was meant to be doing what he is doing, because of what was coming and how he was kind of building a foundation for an explosion of work which was about to come. He has always liked to research whatever he draws and know what he’s drawing, whatever it is.
The Inspiration Behind the Hidden Images
Ever since he was a kid, Hawkins has always hidden things in his artwork whether it was LDS related or not. So when he started drawing LDS temples, he thought what would be appropriate for a temple? It needs to be appropriate. This is a sacred place. He wanted people to like this, so that’s when he started doing research.
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In the temple, there’s levels of learning and meanings in temples, and on the temples. With that idea, he hopes that people can look in his heart and say, hey there’s the drawing or painting of the Salt Lake Temple but a week later, or a month later, or a year later, they can look at it separately in a different way and say, wow there’s Joseph Smith looking at the light of the First Vision in that tree and it takes on a whole new meaning. It’s almost like a picture within a picture.
People say, it’s been on my wall for years and it wasn’t until my home teacher came over and pointed it out to me. And that tells me they buy it for the art, for the sake of the drawing and that now they have a separate meaning.
Favorite Temples
While all temples hold a special place in his heart, Hawkins does have a few favorites. To him, they’re all special.
His absolute favorite is the Salt Lake Temple. He loves how it was so inspired, the history of it, how it was built, the sacrifice to build it, the symbols on the outside, the iconic image that it is and how it represents the whole church. There’s nothing that can ever compare to that.
Outside of the Salt Lake Temple, he loves the Nauvoo Temple because to him it was just such a historic thing to have the Nauvoo Temple rebuilt. He had the privilege of attending one of the temple dedicatory sessions. To be in there with the last session was something that he’ll never forget.
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In terms of landscaping, Laie Hawaii stands out. The landscaping of that one is stunning. The reflection pools. Its relationship with the Polynesian Cultural Center. It’s incredible. The royal palms everywhere.
He also loves the Portland Temple because of the tall trees all around it. The Hamilton New Zealand temple is another favorite because it’s up on a hill and it has orange trees and lemon trees on the grounds and it’s on a huge property. Just to go up there and see the vistas of New Zealand, to see the green, it’s amazing.
Excitement for the Future of Temples
The thing that he gets most excited about is getting to met with people who have shared their stories with him of where they were when this [a temple] is announced. So what he gets excited for is when new temples are announced; he’s thinking of the members in that temple district. He wants to just close his eyes and he can hear members cheering in Thailand.
He loves to see the evolution of temples, how the church refines its temple, not only the design, but the flow and the technology, its efficiencies. They fine tune it.
Temples are fascinating to members of the Church because they realize it’s like baptism, it’s an ordinance that must happen. And a temple is the place or the housing where ordinances, these saving ordinances take place. They’re not fascinated by it because they’re beautiful and wonderful settings. They’re fascinated by it because that’s how and where and why my family’s being sealed together. It’s just the core of their belief.
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It’s like President Howard W. Hunter said, it’s the great symbol of our membership. That’s why we’re so attached to the structure and to other things to a lesser degree because it reminds us of eternal things. That’s why it’s all so powerful. That’s why the drawing is not just a beautiful building, but it’s so much more. It’s powerful.
The Impact on Family
Thankfully, he doesn’t drive them nuts. He makes it fun for them and of course whenever we go on vacation like everybody else we visit every temple we can and whenever we visit a temple, we’re sitting on the grass in the shade and he will tell them the stories of what they’re looking at and they find it interesting.
When he wrote this book, he realized that it was a huge blessing to write this book. For that year, we had scripture study but frequently he would say, you know what, let me tell you about the Twin Falls Temple and how a life was spared when a man fell off two stories above in the frigid cold weather, near death, was life-lighted to Salt Lake. And while he was being life-lighted to Salt Lake, a relative of that person called the secretary to President Monson who they knew… President Monson was there to give him a blessing. He had a huge hemorrhage on his brain. And two days later he walked out. No surgery needed. And when he heard that story, he was able to tell it to his kids.
Hawkins shared two tips that have contributed to his success. First, it helps to make a niche for yourself. What sets Hawkins apart are his temples and hidden images, he said.
Second, artists need to help market their work, which means getting out of the studio comfort zone, meeting people and introducing their art, Hawkins said.
Hawkins' portfolio includes special commissions from the Governor of Utah, the Utah State Legislature, West Jordan City Hall, the University of Utah, This Is the Place State Park, and the law firm of Siegfried and Jensen. His artwork has been featured in LDS magazines, including the New Era and the Ensign. Chad's artwork was selected to be placed in the cornerstones of at least thirteen temples.
"Although I gain great satisfaction from creating artwork of varying subjects, there is nothing I would rather paint than these modern-day monuments to sacrifice, hard work, and faith. My testimony and love for the Lord's House is an integral part of my art. I hope my art has a positive impact on people's lives, that the viewers may be motivated to become, in the words of President Howard W.
"You can be an amazing artist and still not make a living at it," Hawkins said. "I'm grateful for what I do, and the fact that I get to share it with others is a dream come true."
Interesting Temple Facts from Chad Hawkins' Research
Here are some examples of interesting facts that turned up in Hawkins' research:
- At a time when thousands of citizens were recruited to act as covert informants for the German Democratic Republic, at least 21 undercover "Stasi," as they were called, were assigned to monitor the Freiberg Temple's 1985 open house, according to Hawkins' book.
- Next to the Oakland California Temple is a large meetinghouse that features a large auditorium and massive cultural hall. It originally served three stakes in the area. When the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962, they used the building as their practice facility for a brief time, Hawkins wrote.
- On July 29, 1988, a bomb exploded outside a door of the Stockholm Sweden Temple. No one was injured and the temple only suffered minor damage, Hawkins wrote.
- Elder William R. Walker, an emeritus general authority and former executive director of the LDS Church's Temple Department, told Hawkins that church funds are set aside to promptly pay for a temple. "We would not build a temple unless we could pay for the temple as the temple was built," Elder Walker said.
- While excavating the foundation for the Cebu City Philippines Temple, workers discovered interconnected tunnels about 15-20 feet down with bombs and other items left over from World War II.
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