In 2021, 永利国际app established its Arts and Culture initiative in keeping with the College鈥檚 long-standing mission of fostering love of Torah, social justice, pluralism, and creativity. Our exhibitions are open to the public, providing access to learning and on-going conversation.
永利国际app鈥檚听Arts Initiative is honored to have recently received two lithograph folios by Israeli artist Rueven Rubin for our permanent collection: one is about King David, and the other is 鈥淰iews of Israel!鈥 We are excited to present a new exhibit to showcase the King David artwork in winter 2025. This exhibit is presented by the 永利国际app Arts Initiative. Learn more here.
Images from Past 永利国际app Art Exhibits
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“Silvina Mizrahi: A Sephardic Spirit” exhibit: Fall 2024
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“Legacy: A Woman of Two Worlds” (spring 2024)
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“Hope Diaries” exhibit (Fall 2024)
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“In the Beginning” exhibit (Fall 2023)
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“Silvina Mizrahi: A Sephardic Spirit” exhibit: Fall 2024
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“In the Beginning” exhibit (fall 2023)
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“Legacy: A Woman of Two Worlds” (spring 2024)
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“Silvina Mizrahi: A Sephardic Spirit” exhibit: Fall 2024
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Artist Mel Brown
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“Silvina Mizrahi: A Sephardic Spirit” exhibit: Fall 2024
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“In the Beginning” exhibit (fall 2023)
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“In the Beginning” exhibit (fall 2023)
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“Legacy: A Woman of Two Worlds” (spring 2024)
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“Seeing Torah” Fall 2021 exhibit.
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Centennial Exhibit. “Bereishit/In the Beginning: An Interactive Meditation on the Words of Genesis” by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman. Alcohol Ink and calligraphy pen on tile, magnets, 20″x 30″.
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永利国际app Syncopation art exhibit opening on September 21, 2022.
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“Seeing Torah” Fall 2021 exhibit.
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Centennial exhibit curator, artist, and 永利国际app Board member Deborah Feinstein
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永利国际app Syncopation art exhibit opening on September 21, 2022.
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Centennial Exhibit. “Tzedakah Box for Ruth” (Dedicated to Ruth Messinger) by Caron Tabb. Etched glass, scortched olive wood from Israel, 22″ x 11″ x 6″.
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Centennial Exhibit. “Jewish Dreams” by Silvinia Mizrahi. Mixed media: acrylic paint, tissue paper, magazine paper, chocolate wrapping paper and stickers, 30″ x 40″.
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永利国际app Syncopation art exhibit opening on September 21, 2022.
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The artist, Anita Rabinoff-Goldman is encircled by her friends at the “Seeing Torah” Fall 2021 exhibit.
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Centennial Exhibit. “Eight Approaches” by Joshua Meyer. Oil on canvas, four panels, 50″ x 40″.
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永利国际app Syncopation art exhibit opening on September 21, 2022.
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“Seeing Torah” Fall 2021 exhibit.
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“Niddah” by Allison Judd. Etching and acid techniques on paper, 13″ x 9″.
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Cantorial students performing at “Seeing Torah,” Fall 2021 exhibit.
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Centennial Exhibit. “For the Sake of Torah,” by Deborah Feinstein. Handmade paper, collage, acrylic, pastels, 36″ x 18″.
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Cantorial students performing at the Centennial Art Exhibit opening on April 3, 2022
Exhibit: September 15鈥擠ecember 20, 2024 永利国际app. Pictured: 鈥淧rayer in Blue鈥 40脳30, mixed media.
Mizrahi鈥檚 original artwork will be available for purchase during the fall exhibit. Through a generous arrangement with the artist, a portion of the proceeds will be given to 永利国际app. This exhibit is presented by the听永利国际app Arts Initiative.
We are pleased to announce 永利国际app鈥檚 spring art exhibition, 鈥淟egacy: A Woman of Two Worlds,鈥 featuring works by artist Frances Miller听锄鈥漧.听听Read more听about the artist. This exhibit is curated by 永利国际app鈥檚 Arts Initiative.听(Above: 鈥淏lessing of the Moon鈥 by Frances Miller)
Frances Miller, born in 1921, was a daughter of an eminent orthodox rabbi, dedicated to her Jewish identity, and a creative, artistic woman integrated in the modern art world. Her family life was grounded in tradition, practice, and study. In high school, she attended Prozdor at 永利国际app, where she completed four years of advanced training. She also graduated from Massachusetts College of Art, where she was trained in fine arts and technical design.
Shirah Rubin, a Boston artist, convened students from around Boston at four different Jewish institutions (Jewish Community Day School of Boston, Solomon Schechter of Boston, Temple Beth Zion, and Metrowest Community Day School). Though a collaborative art making process, the 60 students explored their personal interpretations of hope, assembling collage covers for these sketchbooks based on the prompt: “What does hope look like for you?” The diaries were then sent to children in six Yad B鈥檡ad schools 鈥 where Jewish-Israeli students learn together with children who are Arab-Israeli in Haifa and five other cities within Israel. The Hope Diaries offer a 鈥渃ontainer鈥 for each child’s expression and imagination during this most difficult time.
Special thanks to Shirah Rubin, the Jewish day schools involved, and CJP.
鈥淚n the Beginning鈥: Art Exhibit Features Works by Mel Brown
September 10-December 14, 2023
Beginning September 10th, 永利国际app will be showing a collection of artist 鈥檚 acrylic and ink on canvas paintings in an exhibit called 鈥淚n the Beginning鈥 in the new Atkins Atrium on our shared campus in Newton. The exhibit opens with an event on September 10th from 5-7 p.m. celebrating the launch of 永利国际app鈥檚 first art exhibit of the new academic year.. Read more.
永利国际app Inaugurates New Campus with 鈥淓ight Approaches鈥 Exhibit
“Eight Approaches” by Joshua Meyer
To celebrate the inauguration of the new shared campus, 永利国际app is featuring artist Joshua Meyer鈥檚 eight-painting series 鈥淓ight Approaches,鈥 which debuted this past December at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. These paintings are displayed alongside his painting 鈥淪eek鈥 from the College鈥檚 permanent collection and will be on view through July 2023. Read more.
Syncopation: Lyrical Abstraction in Israeli Art (1970s)
永利国际app鈥檚 fall art exhibition 鈥淪yncopation鈥 featured Israeli art from the College鈥檚 permanent collection in celebration of Israel鈥檚 75th anniversary. Explore 22 works on paper, all done in the 1970s. The exhibit ran in 永利国际app’s Ted Cutler Atrium from September through November 2022. Read more.
Spring 2022 Centennial Art Exhibit:
Remember. Renew. Reimagine.
Show Dates: April 3 through June 14, 2022 Location: 永利国际app Ted Cutler Atrium
This special exhibit, which honored 永利国际app鈥檚 100th anniversary, celebrated artistic voices, images, and expressions inspired by Torah, and included pieces from 永利国际app鈥檚 permanent collection as well as contemporary creative expressions on Torah and Jewish identity. (Above: “Eight Approaches” by Joshua Meyer. Oil on canvas, four panels, 50″ x 40″.)
Show Dates:听September 12, 2021-January 31, 2022 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听永利国际app Ted Cutler Atrium 永利国际app Exhibit Partner:听Rabbinical School
厂辫辞苍蝉辞谤蝉:听听Deborah Feinstein and Susan Schechter
Seeing Torah听is a visual diary documenting artist Anita Rabinoff-Goldman鈥檚 study and artistic response to each of the 54 portions of the Torah over the cycle of a single Jewish year. Each piece is a visual听midrash听in the tradition of Jewish creative commentary: imaginative re-envisionings as seen through a woman鈥檚 lens illuminating the spiritual, political, and feminist lessons living in the Torah. Accompanied by a short commentary, every piece allows viewers to consider how Torah can be a continuing source of learning and discourse and reflect on what it means to them.
听鈥 Newton TAB, September 24, 2021
听by Judith Bolton-Fasman for JewishBoston, September 27, 2021
Special alumni-led gallery talks
The exhibit included听 永利国际app Rabbinical School-alumni-led talks about the Torah portion of the week as it pertains to the exhibit. The events are free of charge and will be offered in the Ted Cutler Atrium in the lower level of the college unless otherwise indicated:
Mon., Oct. 4 at 1:15 p.m. with Rabbi Jessica Lowenthal `19
Tues., Oct. 26 at 1:15 p.m. with Rabbi Allison Poirier `19 鈥斕
On Zoom: Tues., Nov. 9 at 1:15 p.m. with Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz `10
Wed., Nov. 17 at 11:00 a.m. with Rav Hazzan Aliza Berger `17
ON ZOOM听Wed., Dec. 8 at 11:00 a.m. with Rabbi Jamie Kotler `16 鈥斕
“This idea of seasons within faith, was one I thought of often. In Genesis 8:22 it reads, ‘For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never stop.'” 鈥 Brenda Bancel, curator of听 “Faith in Isolation Expressed”听
Over the past challenging year, many of us found ourselves looking for strength and faith when separated from our communities. In 永利国际app’s inaugural Arts Initiative project “Faith in Isolation Expressed,” photographer and curator Brenda Bancel has created a photo installation looking at how we found that faith despite our challenges. “At one point I began looking through the Internet for photos of faith and how people were digging deep into theirs in order to be comforted,” she said. “People were getting creative in order to engage in their faith. It was so moving to see believers unite together in this period of separation.”
永利国际app is grateful that our Arts Initiative is supported by Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston鈥檚 (CJP) Arts and Culture initiative.
Exhibit dates听+ in person touring schedule
Title: The Faith in Isolation Expressed Dates: April 12 to June 14, 2021 Location: 永利国际app Cutler Atrium
About the Curator: Brenda Bencel
Brenda Bancel is the President of the Champions of Love Foundation and owner of Brenda Bancel Photography LLC. She spent ten years in the advertising industry working with clients such as Apple in Los Angeles and IBM in New York, Paris and London before realizing that she wanted to focus on non-profit work. 听 She was President of the TAKE 5 Foundation for ten years where she gave photography lessons to kids in underserved communities. She is a 2011 graduate of the New England School of Photography where she received honors in documentary. 听She also recently studied for two years at the Harvard Divinity School as a special student. Brenda is interested in the cross section of where creativity and compassion intersect.
Faith in Isolation: A Multifaith Panel Discussion
In response to Brenda Bancel鈥檚 “Faith in Isolation Expressed” exhibit, religious leaders from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions will explore the ways in which they and their communities have expressed their spiritual commitments during the pandemic. This will include discussion of prayer, meditation, study, and acts of service and advocacy. Panelists include: Rabbi Or Rose, founding director of the ; Dr. Celene Ibrahim, author of听Women and Gender in the Qur’an and editor of One Nation, Indivisible: Seeking Liberty and Justice from the Pulpit to the Streets; and Shively T. J. Smith, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Boston University School of Theology.
Curator’s Statement
One of the things that I can鈥檛 live without in my life is faith.
It鈥檚 like breathing for me.
But when Covid seeped into the world, fear and uncertainty sank in; governments, news channels, organizations all scrambled to try to understand this deadly virus.
Fear, is mentioned a lot in my faith, The phrase, 鈥淔ear not, 鈥 is mentioned over 70 times in the bible.听 Yet, here I was, afraid.听 I needed my spiritual nourishment.听 The world was in quarantine, all听 of us collectively trying to figure out how to be safe to ourselves and to others.
This time was an incredibly challenging season for myself and my family.
This idea of听seasons听within faith, was one I thought of often. In Genesis 8:22 it reads, 鈥淔or as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never stop.鈥
This moment for me felt like a very long, cold, dark winter.
As a photographer, I felt zero inspiration to capture this moment in time. I only wanted to see the other side of this pandemic and still do.听 But at one point I began looking through the Internet for photos of faith and how people were digging deep into theirs in order to be comforted.听 I saw photos of people finding ways to celebrate the high holidays, perform sacraments, conduct prayers and even do baptisms by squirt guns.听 People were getting creative in order to engage in their faith.听 It was so moving to see believers unite together in this period of separation.
There were also photos of extreme sadness. The solitude of death, the inability to be together to celebrate a life lost felt unbearable. These were moments where only being together could bring serenity and comfort.
But globally, across all religions, the beauty of the believers in their quest and thirst for spiritual practice brought hope into my days.
As I was also looking to nature to comfort me, I was reading about the amazing life of the sequoia trees. Their life felt like an analogy of faith.
The sequoia is the oldest and one of the largest tree species in the world.听 It never stops growing in its lifetime. They can live 3000 years and be 300 feet tall.听 To put this in perspective, it鈥檚 the size of a twenty-six floor building. They can be 30 feet in diameter.听 So the tree, is just an amazing force and presence.
Yet in order for the tree to reproduce, the pine cones must be set on fire so they open and the seed is released.
So for the sequoia to bear life,听it must suffer.
The sequoias greatest risk of dying is not fire however, as its bark protects the tree, but its greatest risk of dying is that their roots are too shallow, far too shallow for their height and weight.
So in order to live, they grow near each other, and they pull on each others roots for support.
They pull on each others roots so they don鈥檛 fall down.
For me it perfectly sums up this moment, this season. We all pulled each other up in order to make sure we didn鈥檛 fall. It showed that even the strong are vulnerable, and that sometimes the suffering can lead to a beautiful harvest. Let鈥檚 talk about what the harvest will be. Let鈥檚 find the beauty in the harvest.
Selections from the Exhibit
Rev. Miriam White Hammond, Pastor of New Roots AME Church
in Dorchester, MA.
Havdalah service at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA
Online Shabbat service with Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA
Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center member making masks
Arts Committee Members
Deborah Feinstein,听Founding Chair and Member, Board of Trustees
Mel Brown
Dorothea Buckler
Anita Rabinoff-Goldman
Bette Ann Libby
Joshua Meyer
Shirah Rubin
Susan Schechter
Carol Targum
Artist Beit Midrash
A learning community for creatives
永利国际app has partnered with JArts & CJP to create the Artist Beit Midrash, a new Jewish learning salon, that will bring up to 28 Boston-area Jewish artists of all kinds together to study Jewish text, share their creative process, and build community.
Is your creative drive a big part of your life, personally or professionally? Would you like to nourish your creativity with Jewish learning and community? Would you like to engage in your creative work as a spiritual practice? Come join the Artist Beit Midrash!
Launched in 2021, the Artist Beit Midrash is a Jewish learning salon that brings together Boston-area Jewish creators to study Jewish text, reflect on their creative process, and build community. In our inaugural year, our community included writers, installation artists, photographers, singers, theater directors, textile painters, memoirists, poets, potters and more.
Applicants鈥 work may be Jewishly themed, but does not need to be. All mediums, themes, and levels of artistic and textual ability are welcome. Commitment to creative living as Jews is what brings us together.
When you participate, you receive:
A community and network of local Jewish artists and creators
Monthly guided study of rich and accessible contemporary and classical texts
Opportunities to reflect on your creative process in a small group setting
A place where your work and thoughts are received as sacred gifts
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, Co-creator and Director of Professional Development at 永利国际app
There is so much to explore in Judaism that can enrich our lives as artists and our creative process. We can delve into Jewish history and texts that speak to the role of artist as creator, or our engagement in the societal challenges facing us, or how memory and trauma function in our art, or how we build resilience and joy in troubling times.
Contact Us
永利国际app Arts Initiative Please email Rosa Franck, Director of Development.