Upcoming
During these uncertain times we are here for you, and are working to create opportunities for you to come together; to connect our artists and art professionals with virtual presentations, critiques, performances, studio visits and workshops.
During these uncertain times we are here for you, and are working to create opportunities for you to come together; to connect our artists and art professionals with virtual presentations, critiques, performances, studio visits and workshops.
Friday April 17, May 6, June 3, July 1, August 5 10:00AM to 11:30AM (EDT)
Once a month for Art Kibbutz alumni/Board Member Asherah Cinnamon will host a zoom meeting to share and listen to each other about anything related to their creative process and/or personal challenges related to that process, or to the current political/pandemic situation. Limited to up to 12 participants. Free. Pre-registration required at acinnamon@meca.edu.
Upcoming Artist Virtual Studio Visits
Between Two Worlds - Alan Falk
Prayers of a Kohenet (Hebrew Priestess) - Bekah Starr
on May 31, 2020 01:00 PM EDT
Email for zoom info
Prayers of a Kohenet (Hebrew Priestess) - Bekah Starr
on May 31, 2020 01:00 PM EDT
Email for zoom info
Based on Alan Falk’s current solo show Between Two Worlds: Shir HaShirim and The Dybbuk explores the romantic and magical aspects of love and the search for the sublime, and comprises of his artworks based on The Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim) and on Sholom Ansky’s celebrated Yiddish drama, The Dybbuk. In these contrasting narratives, one is physical, earthbound, and rich in the abundance of life, whilst the other is spiritual, soulful, and weighed down by tragedy and death. Yet, in both, unconditional love prevails over all challenges directing our attention towards the unity attained by the lovers as they transcend their duality through the act of love.
Prayers of a Kohenet (Hebrew Priestess) features a studio visit. Bekah Starr‘s work is a celebration of the Shekhinah, the sacred primordial divine feminine. By reclaiming the power of ancient Hebrew rituals and prayers she empowers a modern day version of a Hebrew Priestess through visual art. We will look at hercurrent paintings, inspired by the liturgy of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute. The presentation will include a brief answer to the question, What is a Kohenet?
Prayers of a Kohenet (Hebrew Priestess) features a studio visit. Bekah Starr‘s work is a celebration of the Shekhinah, the sacred primordial divine feminine. By reclaiming the power of ancient Hebrew rituals and prayers she empowers a modern day version of a Hebrew Priestess through visual art. We will look at hercurrent paintings, inspired by the liturgy of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute. The presentation will include a brief answer to the question, What is a Kohenet?
Previous Programs
New York based artist Susan May Tell will show Photographs of Space, Silence and Solitude. These are photographs of personal projects, museum exhibitions and work commissioned by pre-eminent publications, in the United States, Middle East and Europe: the women fighters of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, Iran-Iraq war, NBA Finals, actors, politicians, and more.
Massachusetts artist Debra Olin presents Every Protection – Exploring Pregnancy and Childbirth in the Jewish Pale of Settlement
This is a studio visit and preview of artwork that is scheduled for exhibition at the Eldridge Museum in NYC. The opening of April 30, 2020 has been postponed. The artwork is inspired by an ethnographic questionnaire distributed throughout the shtetls in the Russian Pale of Settlement between 1912-1914 by S. An-sky. Every Protection explores the questions that explore pregnancy and childbirth.
Massachusetts artist Debra Olin presents Every Protection – Exploring Pregnancy and Childbirth in the Jewish Pale of Settlement
This is a studio visit and preview of artwork that is scheduled for exhibition at the Eldridge Museum in NYC. The opening of April 30, 2020 has been postponed. The artwork is inspired by an ethnographic questionnaire distributed throughout the shtetls in the Russian Pale of Settlement between 1912-1914 by S. An-sky. Every Protection explores the questions that explore pregnancy and childbirth.
The fourth session in the virtual program series
Art in the Time of Corona & Rethinking Judaica with New Media
Facilitators: Lenore Mizrahi Cohen and Hillel Smith
The third session in the virtual program series
Not in Heaven: Artists as Partners in Creation
on Sunday, May 10th, 2020 10:30AM-12:00PM EDT; 17:30PM-19:00PM Israel time
Facilitators: Judy Cardozo and Susan Nashman Fraiman
Born in New York City, Judy Cardozo, Independent Curator and writer, educated at Pratt Institute and Barnard College, worked at the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and curated exhibitions at the Bronx Museum, Yeshiva University Museum and the Bertha Urdang Gallery. In Toronto, she was curator of the Beth Tzedec Museum and and co-produced the ASHKENAZ Festival at Harbourfront. In Israel since 2000, she worked at the Center for Jewish Art and has been involved with the Jerusalem Biennale.
Dr. Susan Nashman Fraiman is a lecturer, researcher and curator of Jewish and Israeli art. She has taught at Hebrew College in Newton, Ma, the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and currently teaches at the Rothberg School for Overseas Students. She served for five years as the collection manager at the Yad Vashem Art Museum and curated the exhibit “The Fine Line” in the 2015 Jerusalem Biennale. Website: www.artinisrael.net
Dr. Susan Nashman Fraiman is a lecturer, researcher and curator of Jewish and Israeli art. She has taught at Hebrew College in Newton, Ma, the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and currently teaches at the Rothberg School for Overseas Students. She served for five years as the collection manager at the Yad Vashem Art Museum and curated the exhibit “The Fine Line” in the 2015 Jerusalem Biennale. Website: www.artinisrael.net
The second session in the virtual program series took place on Sunday, May 3rd, 2020 10:30AM-12:00PM EDT; 17:30PM-19:00PM Israel time. Facilitators: Cynthia Beth Rubin and Chana Wiesenthal Elias
Is there an identifiable Jewish sensibility or aesthetic, a Jewish way of thinking, that finds its genesis in a theological tradition of embellishing texts, ritual objects, religious music, and poetry as prayer? When we look at traditional Jewish texts, we see layers of meaning, layers of commentary and embellishments both visual and textual. In the Marseilles Bible, for example, the Biblical text is interspersed with carpet pages, which in turn are pages of decorative motifs derived from local Spanish architecture surrounded by micrography, little writing that winds around with comments and references.
As creative thinkers, our cultural distinction may not always be content driven, but is often reflected in the structuring of our creative output. We come from a tradition of ever evolving interpretations, of finding layers of meaning and of approaching a place from a multitude of viewpoints all at once, in even the seemingly most simple text. This is a forum to begin a discussion of how cultural motifs and layered thinking come together in the work of many Jewish artists, focusing on ideas and conceptual journeys.
Confirmed Participants
Leah Caroline https://www.leahcaroline.com
Chana Wiesenthal Elias https://www.chanawiesenthalelias.com
Bob Gluck http://www.electricsongs.com
Beth Haber https://www.bethhaber.com
Judith Joseph https://www.judithjosephstudio.com
Cynthia Beth Rubin http://cbrubin.net
As creative thinkers, our cultural distinction may not always be content driven, but is often reflected in the structuring of our creative output. We come from a tradition of ever evolving interpretations, of finding layers of meaning and of approaching a place from a multitude of viewpoints all at once, in even the seemingly most simple text. This is a forum to begin a discussion of how cultural motifs and layered thinking come together in the work of many Jewish artists, focusing on ideas and conceptual journeys.
Confirmed Participants
Leah Caroline https://www.leahcaroline.com
Chana Wiesenthal Elias https://www.chanawiesenthalelias.com
Bob Gluck http://www.electricsongs.com
Beth Haber https://www.bethhaber.com
Judith Joseph https://www.judithjosephstudio.com
Cynthia Beth Rubin http://cbrubin.net
Cynthia Beth Rubin is an early adopter of digital imaging, transitioning from paint in the 1980s. Rubin’s prints, videos, and interactive works have been shown on the ICC tower façade in Hong Kong, the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Cotton Club screen in Harlem, the ICA in London, and the Jerusalem Biennale, and numerous international festivals featuring digital art, such as ISEA and SIGGRAPH. Equally fascinated by imagined memories of cultural history and with envisioning the unseen microscopic life of oceans and still waters, her works evoke narratives through interwoven layers of representation and abstraction, frequently combined with interactive experience. http://cbrubin.net
Since 1990 Chana Wiesenthal Elias has created images with both a 4×5″ camera and 35mm using traditional films, Polaroid and digital photography. Her work explores the mythology and ethos of contemporary culture as it relates to identity, time and place, the construction and re-construction of memory, and the aesthetics of eroticism. Chana received her MFA from Bard in 1993 and her BFA from SUNY Purchase in 1989. She currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL and actively exhibits her work both nationally and internationally. https://www.chanawiesenthalelias.com
Since 1990 Chana Wiesenthal Elias has created images with both a 4×5″ camera and 35mm using traditional films, Polaroid and digital photography. Her work explores the mythology and ethos of contemporary culture as it relates to identity, time and place, the construction and re-construction of memory, and the aesthetics of eroticism. Chana received her MFA from Bard in 1993 and her BFA from SUNY Purchase in 1989. She currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL and actively exhibits her work both nationally and internationally. https://www.chanawiesenthalelias.com
1st Session of Sunday Virtual Studios
On April 19th 2020 we featured three outstanding artists. In his groundbreaking exhibition at the Hyams Museum Archie Rand presents a searing exploration of two series: 24 images of The Book of Ezekiel (2019) and 16 images from The Book of Esther (2019); deconstructing the ancient biblical text into deeply personal and cutting-edge commentaries.
Richard McBee’s paintings of Ezekiel, spanning 39 years, ponder the role of the Holocaust, acceptance of Torah and mystical experience in Ezekiel’s visions. Additionally the narratives of Vashti, Esther, Mordechai, Haman and the King are explored as well as a somber meditation on the Binding of Isaac.
Joel Silverstein’s radically eclectic works reassess Tanach, Exodus and Ezekiel through his personal lens of 20th and 21st Century movie, pop and comic book references, including a 10-foot painting; “Ten Commandments and a Question”(2017), previously exhibited at the Jerusalem Biennale.
On April 19th 2020 we featured three outstanding artists. In his groundbreaking exhibition at the Hyams Museum Archie Rand presents a searing exploration of two series: 24 images of The Book of Ezekiel (2019) and 16 images from The Book of Esther (2019); deconstructing the ancient biblical text into deeply personal and cutting-edge commentaries.
Richard McBee’s paintings of Ezekiel, spanning 39 years, ponder the role of the Holocaust, acceptance of Torah and mystical experience in Ezekiel’s visions. Additionally the narratives of Vashti, Esther, Mordechai, Haman and the King are explored as well as a somber meditation on the Binding of Isaac.
Joel Silverstein’s radically eclectic works reassess Tanach, Exodus and Ezekiel through his personal lens of 20th and 21st Century movie, pop and comic book references, including a 10-foot painting; “Ten Commandments and a Question”(2017), previously exhibited at the Jerusalem Biennale.