Artists Beit Midrash starting in Chicago

What is the Artists' Beit Midrash?

An opportunity to study Jewish sacred texts as a springboard to artistic creation.

Community of artists who find inspiration in their heritage. A non-denominational study/creative group. A supportive critique environment for feedback about your work. A spur to create, culminating in a group exhibition.

Facilitators: Jane Shapiro and Judith Joseph

This model of study/art critique was started in New York by artist Tobi Kahn. It has generated groups in New Jersey, Seattle and Connecticut, and the New York group partially inspired the creation of the Jewish Art Salon. It gives artists an environment to explore their Jewish heritage creatively while being enriched educationally.

The Holocaust Portfolio by Martin Mendelsberg

Holocaust Memorial Center, Farmington Hills, MI.

Opening Reception & Artist Talk Sunday June 3, 3 PM

Mendelsberg combines Hebrew characters with historical photographs of life before and during the Holocaust.
He gives meaning to each letter and memorializes the victims.

View the portfolio here.

Off Label: Ceremonial Objects Imagined

With With our - Digital print by Ken Goldman

Art review by Richard McBee

After the shock of recognition that the artists are speaking our language, but with a slightly different accent, the well-informed observer will recognize that serious thought-provoking pieces of Jewish art can easily also put a smile on one’s face.

This brilliant exhibition, curated by noted artist and teacher Tobi Kahn, showcases the work of two Israeli-American artists who view traditional practice through a looking glass of wry humor that is dark, ironic, modern and yet wonderfully liberating. They both interrogate traditional observance through visual and conceptual conundrums that, if we think about it, we all face every day. Article continues here.

Collectively Independent: Exhibit of Young Russian-American Artists

Irina Sheynfeld - New York 1

• The National Arts Club, Trask gallery.
• 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, New York 10003
• 
  
• June 2 - 27

Opening Reception: Monday, June 2, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

In celebration of the 12th Annual Russian Heritage Month®, the Russian American Foundation in collaboration with COJECO BluePrint fellowship program presents the exhibit of 5 emerging Russian-American artists: Margarita Korol, Michael Korosty, Tanya Levina, Artem Mirolevich, and Irina Sheynfeld. (bold names are J.A. Salon members)

   Russian Heritage Month® which takes place every year in June, consists of a month-long series of events which celebrate and honor the rich diversity of cultural traditions brought to this country from the various regions of the former Soviet Union. This month will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the 3rd wave of Russian immigration to the US.

RSVP with Liana Pailodze at rsvp@russianamericanfoundation.org

(212)687-6118 ext 203

   The Russian American Foundation was founded in 1997 to encourage interest in and understanding of Russian heritage among all communities in the US, as well as to promote reciprocal interest in and understanding of American heritage among global Russian-speaking communities.

   The COJECO BluePrint Fellowship is a highly selective year-long program for Russian-speaking Jewish adults ages 25-40 to explore personal and collective identity through the creation of community projects.

*This program is supported, in part, by public funds contributed to the Russian American Foundation, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Lashon Hara Exhibit by Robin Atlas

Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery - JCC, 950 W. 41st Avenue, Vancouver.

Opening Reception: Thursday May 29, 7-9pm

7:30 Rabbi Carey Brown of Temple Sholom joins the artist for an “Artist’s Beit Midrash” roundtable discussion of Lashon Hara.

Atlas is a mixed-media artist working in the genre of visual Midrash. 
The 20 pieces to her narrative explore the impact of Lashon Hara
(evil speech; creating darkness) on the spiritual realm and the physical universe. The exhibit’s interactive component welcomes the public to acknowledge lashon hara in their own lives via notes written and then posted on the wall that will reveal the viewers’ own personal experience of creating darkness through speaking evil. 

Miriam Stern at BEKI

Holon

Stern is exhibiting works from the last 5 years at Congregation Beth El-Kesser Israel (BEKI), New Haven, CT.

May 30-August 29, 2014. 
Call for hours and appointment 201-389-2108

The works on exhibit evolved from photographs Stern took on her travels far and near, including Israel, China, and the Berkshires.  Stern’s creative process often begins with the computer, using digital processes to manipulate and transform photos.  The resulting images then become the point of departure for “unique prints” combining digital and traditional printmaking methods.

Counting the Omer Paintings by Carol Philips

Carol Philips has been making "prayer paintings" to count the Omer. Counting of the Omer, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer, is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot.

The ground for Philips' pieces are used seed packets, since Omer counting is related to agriculture and harvest. The pieces vary in the extent that they relate to the meanings of the letters, the Kaballah, and other associations and thoughts. 

To see the entire series, facebook friend Carol. She posts the image for each day and writes about the meanings and her process. The images here are days 5, 14, 18 and 30.