Note to readers • This story is jointly published by nonprofits Amplify Utah and The Salt Lake Tribune to elevate diverse perspectives in local media through student journalism.

Anna Wright describes herself as an introvert, which may be why she spends so much time in her Provo art studio, a converted attic she’s made into her own artistic space.

Her strong suit, she said, comes from “being alone and hunching in a studio for eight hours instead of grinding industry work.”

Since moving to Utah County from the East Coast several years ago, she also has worked to become part of the Provo art community — working at an art gallery and gaining a following for the “five-minute sketches” she creates at the Provo Farmers Market.

“I never forget a face I draw,” Wright said, “even if they forget me.”

Wright, who studied illustration at Brigham Young University and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the exploration of her faith has led to her latest and biggest project: a graphic novel and memoir about missionaries struggling with faith, identity and mental health.

Becoming an artist

At 6 years old, Wright said she began sketching stories to go along with original books she had written. She considered going into animation at age 16, she said, and applied to BYU’s program before deciding to major in illustration instead.

Pursuing an animation career, she said, would have required late nights and plenty of group work.

“[You have to] stay up until like, 4 in the morning, and be really good at teamwork,” Wright said, adding that, as an introvert, “I’m not equipped.”

Instead, her studio shows her solitary approach. Markers and unfinished doodles are stacked haphazardly in the corner, while she works on another project — drawings of the two main characters from the “Barbie” movie adaptation of “The Princess and the Pauper,” but wearing modern clothes instead of medieval garb.

While an undergraduate at BYU, Wright said she got involved in the Provo community and arts scene by volunteering at events and art galleries.

She moved on to volunteering at the Provo Recreation Center, where she developed her art style and her five-minute portraits, which became her signature.

What drew Wright to such community events was the human connection of drawing others. “It gives you this kind of glimpse into these close-knit communities of roommates or families,” she said.

Wright also landed a job at a Provo art gallery, The Compass. The gallery’s director, Esther Candari, described The Compass as a space known for “honing in on expansive and new ways to look at religious symbols.”

Wright said showing her work with the gallery helped her form more connections in the local art scene.

“I would do shifts at the desk,” she said, “and meet lots of cool people that way.”

Wright said she sometimes was paid in store credit, which exposed her to more art.

“I mooched off of them shamelessly. Like so much,” she said. “I have so many bada-- art prints and books from them.”

She made another connection with Provo artist J. Kirk Richards, who’s known for his Studio Art Academy, an art education program with roots in religious and broader visual arts tradition that appealed to Wright.

Richards praised Wright’s involvement with the academy. “She’s modeled for some of the classes and gotten to be friends with all the artists,” Richards said.

He also emphasized the role of community for emerging artists, and highlighted the growth of artists through the duration of the program.

“Getting to know so many artists, seeing their art come through, teaching classes to many of them, watching many of them move from classes into more professional roles … it’s a very collaborative community,” Richards added. “I love seeing what everybody’s doing.”

Icons and narratives

Wright said her art style is broadly inspired by graphic novels, cartoons and comics. Although she does sketch comics in a more literal sense, she also draws from her comfort shows, like “Over the Garden Wall” and “Arthur,” and often takes a storybooklike approach.

Richards said Wright’s art “focuses on narrative in a really great way. It tells a story.”

Wright said she uses narrative to depict nuanced experiences in the Latter-day Saint faith. Her painting “If God Be for Us” depicts a person of the faith who is also a part of the LGBTQ+ community. The painting uses color, shapes and tone to depict individuality within faith.

Wright said she has also made a point to depict notable women in church history and scripture, like Jesus’ mother, Mary, and church founder Joseph Smith’s first and legal wife, Emma Smith. Her art also portrays Jesus as nonwhite — an intentional choice for many Latter-day Saint artists, as The Salt Lake Tribune reported in January 2024.

“We’re both trying to be open and aware of the nuances of our faith,” said David Habben, an artist and BYU design professor, under whom Wright has studied.

Habben said artists have a role that allows them to explore faith in ways that may be controversial.

“That’s something that maybe artists can be more openly risky about,” he said.

Wright said her own experience grappling with church history led her to depict those figures and tell those stories.

“What made me consider leaving a few times was just the fact that the history of the church was whitewashed, and it was deliberately hidden from the members,” she said, calling it a “deep betrayal” that made her labor to reconcile with the nuances of her faith.

“So much of my work came from that struggle,” she said.

During her faith journey and throughout her life, Wright said she attended other churches but finds her spiritual home in the Latter-day Saint faith. Her work, she added, “comes from that struggle and balance where it’s like, ‘can I draw within myself from that well of love and clarity and light that [my] God offers me?’”

Wright said she’s intrigued by flawed and nuanced experiences within her faith and focuses her work on some of those ideas.

“People aren’t perfect,” she said. “So much of my work is just an attempt to point to that and also not to condemn.”

Compiling ex-missionaries’ stories

Wright’s faith journey, she said, has led her to her most ambitious project yet — a graphic novel and memoir, “Apos,” that is described in its Kickstarter campaign as “a faithful record of earlier missionaries’ experiences for the generations after.” (The campaign has raised more than $13,000 in pledges from 282 backers as of July 28.)

Wright titled the novel based on missionary slang for “apostate,” or someone who disobeys mission rules or isn’t righteous enough, she said. Wright interviewed 116 former Latter-day Saint missionaries, who shared stories ranging from near-death experiences to serving a two-year mission as a gay man.

These stories, depicting nuance and complexity, “come in with a hard-nosed effort to say anything. It’s not dogmatic in its approach,” Habben said.

Wright said her aim, with the graphic novel and her work as a whole, is to encourage discourse.

“[I want] to get people to see each other and listen to each other, and to not be so quick to judge,” she said. “All we can do is just take one step forward every day. Just let people figure out their life as they’re living it.”

Note to readers • This article was written by University of Utah student journalist Georgia Metcalf for the Spring 2026 Voices of Utah capstone class.