James Christensen

From College of Fine Arts and Communications

James Christensen

James Christensen is a well known fantasy artist. He graduated from BYU in 1967 with a BA Visual Arts. Christensen received an MA in 1968.

On January 30, 1996, Christensen was invited to deliver a University Forum address. The title of his address was "Imagination." In the speech, Christensen expressed his belief that all people are creative, some just feed their imagination more than others. Christensen commented,

"It seems that many adults see imagination and creativity as something reserved for artists, writers, and other 'creative' types. But I don’t agree with that. I believe that everyone has an imagination, everyone has the potential to be creative. I think that the process comes more easily to some folks, but with practice we all have access to imagination and creative problem solving, no matter where our interests and talents lie . . . We can all be creative if we are willing to pay the price, as there is a price to be paid for any success."

In 2005, Christensen was designated as an Honored Alumnus of the college, and is Visual Arts Emeriti Faculty.

Two of Christensen's daughters, Cassandra Christensen Barney and Emily Christensen McPhie are also alumni of the College of Fine Arts and Communications at BYU.

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