In 1972, God asked the Baptist preacher Howard Finster of Georgia to create 5,000 paintings to spread the Gospel. These colorful primitive pieces include a stream of conscious text of Bible verses and Finster’s visions. In addition to religious iconography, his art also featured representations of pop culture, history, and politics as well as space and UFO images.

On loan from the University Museums is “Space Tower/My Dream” numbered 1,111 and dated 28 April 1978. Also on view is the self-published and self-marketed Howard Finisters Vision of 1982: Vision of Light 200 Light Years Away Space Born of Three Generations from Earth to Heaven of Heavens . One of only six known copies held in libraries, Finster described the book’s subject as

. . . a long vision I had, and it tells about all the planets I went to – planets that I had seen, planets that’s bein’ created and planets that’s gone and comin’ to an end . . .

By 1985, Finster had completed 5,000 paintings and also achieved national fame with inclusion in major art exhibitions along with record album covers for R.E.M. and Talking Heads.