When you think of Jewish artists, who is the first person that comes to mind? For me, I immediately think of Marc Chagall, who art critic Robert Hughes referred to as, “the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century.” One of my greatest pleasures was seeing Chagall’s work on display at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, for which he designed a series of stained-glass windows. You can click here to see the windows and read more about how they were commissioned. (insert Story | Chagall’s Windows: A Source of Light in Dark Times (hadassah.org)). Many of us know the world-renowned artist Marc Chagall, but did you know we have an impressive group of artists and artisans within our local Jewish community?
Recently, members of the Adult Education Committees at Temple Beth Or and Temple Israel, as well as the Jewish Community Center and participants from Beth Jacob and Beth Abraham, collaborated on an Innovation Grant project. The project, titled Look at Us, aims to highlight Jewish artists and artisans who reside in the Miami Valley, their respective Jewish journeys, and their artwork.
The grant, also in collaboration with the Dayton Art Institute, is broken up into three stages:
Stage One: A display on jewishdayton.org (link to Jewish Artists at the Dayton Art Institute: The Stories That We Tell – Jewish Dayton) featuring, “Jewish Artists at the Dayton Art Institute: The Stories That We Tell.” This display shares information on three Jewish artists who have artwork on display at the Dayton Art Institute.
Stage Two: A display on jewishdayton.org (link to Jewish Artists at the Dayton Art Institute: The Stories That We Tell – Jewish Dayton) featuring information about local artists and artisans, including pictures of their artwork.
Stage Three: Look at Us culmination on Wednesday, August 21st with an in-person event at the Dayton Art Institute. The evening will feature a display of artwork from our local artists and artisans, with an artist talk by Dayton Jewish artist Hannah Kasper Levinson. There is no cost for this event. You can RSVP by clicking here (insert link Look at Us: Jewish Artists and Artisans in Dayton – Jewish Dayton). If you have any questions, please contact Stacy Emoff at semoff@jfgd.net.
I hope to see you there!
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