Pioneer: 2010 Vol.57 No.2

BeverleyTaylorSorenson
Beverley Taylor
Sorenson was
born in 1924 to Frank
Campbell Taylor and
Bessie Eleanor Taylor. Beverley
is descended from Mormon pioneer stock on both sides
of her family. Her grandfathers were both named
Taylor, but were from unrelated families.
Beverley’s great grandfather on her father’s side is
John Taylor, the third president of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Taylor is featured
in this issue of the Pioneer magazine in the article that
follows.
Her maternal grandfather was George Hamilton
Taylor, bishop of the Salt Lake 14th Ward from 1849
to 1857. Famed Utah artist, Lewis Ramsey, who rendered
portraits of many early Church leaders in Utah,
painted a portrait of George Hamilton Taylor for the
14th Ward building. When the building was torn
down, the painting was about to be destroyed. The
Taylor family pulled the painting from the building’s
rubble pile and today it hangs in the hallway of the
Sorenson home.
Beverley is the fifth of six children of Frank and
Bessie. Raised in the Sugar House area of Salt Lake
City, she attended the Forrest Elementary school, graduated
from the East High School and then completed
a degree from the University of Utah in 1945. She
moved to New York City to teach in a Brooklyn
Quaker School. Beverley’s passion for the arts began
with music as a child. She recalls, “We had a piano in
our home and Mom saw to it that we all practiced.”
Her older sisters, Helen and Virginia, were very talented
and taught Beverley to play.
In December 1945 while in New York City, she
met the love of her life—James LeVoy Sorenson, a
young merchant marine from Rexburg, Idaho. Three
dates later he asked Beverley to marry him. The newlywed
Sorensons moved to Salt Lake City, where James
devoted his time to developing and patenting biomedical
devices, which eventually resulted in the foundation
of a large many-faceted financial enterprise.
Beverly concentrated on raising their eight children
and continued her emphasis on music and the arts,
making sure that the children’s training included music
training in voice and piano.
In her later years, Beverley became concerned that
children from all walks of life were losing critical opportunities
for personal and academic development
because of the decreasing emphasis of education in the
arts. Funding constraints and focus on the basic academics
had caused administrators to slash arts training.
At an age when most people are enjoying the twilight
of their lives, Beverley investigatied using art to teach
across other subjects in innovative elementary schools.
After observing successes at some elementary schools,
she began investing her personal resources into a campaign
to establish arts programs around the state.
Beverley Taylor Sorenson has spent the last 15
years promoting arts education in Utah’s elementary
schools. She is
a determined and
effective advocate,
strong in her belief
that “all children
receive the
best possible education,
an education
that includes
the arts.” The
Sorenson Family,
through Beverley’s
Art Works for
Kids Foundation,
has dedicated
$45 million dollars
to support
sequential fine
2010 ◆ Vol. 57, No.2 ◆ PIONEER 35