Newspaper article about Richard Edelman

Our "very own' Richard Edelman is featured in an article on the Milwaukee Jewish Chronicle!
The article mentions his participation in the Lab. The photo on the first page is of "Isaac Bound," the work which was included in our last exhibit.


See the photo and read the full article here:
http://www.jewishchronicle.org/article.php?article_id=14047

Sarah Bryant visits the Lab!

What a great session we had last Monday, November the 12th, when printmaker, letter press printer, and book artist extraordinaire Sarah Bryant came to visit! Sarah holds an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa. Her recent artist's book Biography is the winner of the 2011 Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) Prize and the 2010 Award for Artistic Excellence at Pyramid Atlantic.

Be amazed by her work: Sarah's website.

At the JCC, Sarah showed us her beautiful books and spoke about her inspiration and process. Then, she conducted a workshop on simple, book making techniques. Here are some pictures of the evening:

 First, Sarah showed us how to handle the paper:

Then how to fold it and crease it: 

                                                                                                             

Marc (in background) threading the needle:  

        

Stitching with Audrene and Clarice: 

Judith carefully folding her book:

 

Maida and David at work:            

  

Men at work:

The stitched book!

Our final products: a stitched mini book and an accordion fold!

A Flag Book out of Sarah's "box of wonder": 

-could this be our next workshop? ;)

The happy Lab co-facilitators, Natanya and Jody with their special guest:

It's the beginning of a new year for the Milwaukee Jewish Artists' Laboratory!

BRUCHIM HABAIM (WELCOME) to the 2nd year of the                  Milwaukee Jewish Artists' Laboratory! 

We have a new topic and several new members who joined last year's cohort, including two young emerging artists. Stay tuned to find out who they are and what we all do as we study and work together.

We also welcome the Madison, WI and Minneapolis, MN recently formed Jewish Artists' Laboratories. They will be working with the same topic, and we will have a chance to meet both virtually and in-person.

OUR TOPIC THIS YEAR IS:

TEXT/CONTEXT/SUBTEXT

TEXT: the original words and form of a written or printed work.

CONTEXT: the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning.

SUBTEXT: the implicit or metaphorical meaning [of a text].

The above definitions are the first ones found for each word on the online version of the Merriam- Webster dictionary . Of course, if you keep reading or look elsewhere, you will find many variations to these. How many can you find? How can these be applied to the creation of works of art?

BRUCHIM HABAIM (WELCOME) to the 2nd year of the                  Milwaukee Jewish Artists' Laboratory! 

We have a new topic and several new members who joined last year's cohort, including two young emerging artists. Stay tuned to find out who they are and what we all do as we study and work together.

We also welcome the Madison, WI and Minneapolis, MN recently formed Jewish Artists' Laboratories. They will be working with the same topic, and we will have a chance to meet both virtually and in-person.

OUR TOPIC THIS YEAR IS:

TEXT/CONTEXT/SUBTEXT

TEXT: the original words and form of a written or printed work.

CONTEXT: the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning.

SUBTEXT: the implicit or metaphorical meaning [of a text].

The above definitions are the first ones found for each word on the online version of the Merriam- Webster dictionary . Of course, if you keep reading or look elsewhere, you will find many variations to these. How many can you find? How can these be applied to the creation of works of art?

The exhibit's opening was a huge success! 

Read this great article written by H. Glenn Rosenkrantz who flew in from NYC to attend, and look at the many images by Ryan Hainey:

http://www.covenantfn.org/news/106/251/A-Midwest-Movement-Creates-and-Elevates-Jewish-Art

Matriarchs and Wandermaps

The energy was high at our meeting last night! We discussed differing views and opinions on the Matriarchs while reading from Genesis and looking at work by Abel Pann. Here's his pastel "The Four Matriarchs." Do you think these portraits are in agreement with the traditional idea of what (from left to right) Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah might have looked like? Why, why not? Leave us a comment with your response.

The second half of our time together was devoted to looking at and discussing some of the WANDERMAPS we have been working on. Not surprisingly these are very diverse! Take a look at those by Rosalind, Judith and Barbara...more to come during the next few weeks.

The objects in the image below represent just a few of those collected by Rosalind in different countries where, for three months each year, her husband volunteered throughout the 1970’s and 80’s.

Here is a much downsized image of Judith's recollections of significant people and places arranged on a map of the Canadian Rockies where she and her husband honeymooned years ago.

 
This little handmade book includes a collection of the names of those individuals who have been an important influence in Barbara's life. She stated her "wandermap is all about people, rather than objects".

 

One more for the "Show and Tell" list!

Here's an example of work by our very own Annette Hirsh: 

More show and tell!

See below work by Annette Hirsh:

"Show and Tell" Milwaukee Jewish Artists' Lab style

During our last two meetings, we've spent some time looking at and talking about what each of the artists have brought in as a response to the assignment to bring ONE work from their production. Aside from presenting said work, artists have explained WHY they chose to share that specific one.


The works themselves, as well as the reasons for their choosing (including "this is my favorite child", "I brought it due to its small size",  and "it includes so many of my symbols" ) have varied in media, format, style and intent, but they have all sparked interesting and lively conversations as we get to know one another. 

 We'll be uploading photos of the works over the next few days. Here are a few ones to begin with:

Above is Clarice Zucker's watercolor "Purim".

Marc Tasman brought in "Antique store window on the way to the Kazimiers Jewish District in Krakow ," a photograph he took while exploring the Eastern European region of Galizia:

                    

Click HERE to go to Phillip Katz's website and see the Tzedaka Box which he shared with the group.

Judith Harway's book of poems "All That Is Left" was her elected one work. Click HERE to visit her website.  

 

 

We are looking forward to seeing what those who have not yet "shown and told" will bring next time!

Also please remember that there are two assignments:

1.     Read the material Jody passed out in class about the Matriarchs. Think about: How is Abraham Jewish? How are the Matriarchs Jewish? Is their Jewishness different from Abraham’s?

2.     To be completed in the journal: Your Personal Wandermap.  Copy a definition of WANDERING and record where it’s from. Then write YOUR OWN definition of wandering. Finally, make your WANDERMAP (or wondermap!). Maps can be visual, written, or a combination or both and can include any kind of media. They should mark no less than five different “places.” These are stops you have made along the way, and can be real or imagined or geographical or spiritual or symbolic. It is all about YOU as a person and artist!

Last but not least: A big thank you to Barbara Kohl-Spiro for bringing in original early 20^th century works, from her private collection, made at the (then) “Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts”(Now the “Bezalel academy of arts and design Jerusalem” website HERE). What a treat to see and touch those beauties!

Abraham and Ephraim Moshe Lilien

Ephraim Moshe Lilien (1874-1925) was a Viennese artist and the 'official' illustrator of the Zionist Movement. Below is a postcard he produced in 1910. According to this website Lilien visited Palestine in the 1890's and took many photographs of the people and landscape. He used these to produce work back in Europe. (You can see other works by clicking here).

 

 

 The one Jody showed yesterday (above) was produced for the 5th Zionist Congress, which took place in Basel, Switzerland in 1901. The Hebrew inscription at the bottom is the prayer “May our eyes behold your return in mercy to Zion.”

 

And here is Lilien's beautiful, 1908 "Abraham":

                                                                       

The Lord said to Abram, "Go Yourself from your land, your birthland, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless you and curse him that curses you; And all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you." Abram went forth as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.                                   Chapter 12. Verses 1-4

Just for fun click HERE to access wikipedia's page about Lilien

Our fist meeting

Our first official meeting took place on Monday, November 7 at the JCC. Most of the artist came, but we're still looking for a couple more who would want to join in this journey. During our time together this week, everyone shared who they are in very general terms. We hope that we will discover more about each other as we start learning, talking and sharing.

We also talked about the possibility of visiting the JMKAC in Sheboygan to view the exhibit "Hiding Places: Memory in the Arts".

Click HERE to go to the show's website

Our NEXT MEETING is scheduled take place at the JCC on Monday, November 21. Each participating artist was asked to bring ONE WORK THEY HAVE CREATED. Any size/media. The choice and format is yours: Bring the actual work, a photograph, drawing, painting, slide, or digital image of it.

Here are answers to some of the questions that came up:
Only ONE work? Yes, only one.
Would one poem or one book constitute one work? That's up to you.
How can I choose only one? Well, that's also up to you. Be mindful of what you choose. You'll be asked to talk about the reasons for your particular choice: What does this choice say about you as an artist? As a person?

START WANDERING

The theme for the 2011 - 2012 program year is: Wandering. 

How is this theme expressed in traditional Jewish texts, in the Jewish experience, in the arts, in values, in the Jewish collective, and among individual Jews? 

Is examination of the theme of wandering relevant to Jew and non-Jew; to religious and non-religious; to the community and to the individual; to the artist and the non-artist? 

The spring exhibit/showcase will present work of the participating artists relevant to the year’s theme.

Here we go!

The Milwaukee Jewish Artists’ Lab

The Harry & Rose Samson Jewish Community Center, Milwaukee, along with the Sabes JCC, Minneapolis, and University of Wisconsin Hillel, Madison, Wisconsin, are addressing the need to broaden the impact of the arts in helping Jewish artists as well as Jews in the regional Jewish Community at large to find meaning, community, identity and spirituality through the arts. For many Jews, the traditional approaches to Jewish life are no longer meaningful, and the arts can serve as a common denominator among Jews regardless of their degree of belief, cultural literacy or religious affiliation. In addition, as a result of the current economic climate, there is an increasing need for institutions like ours to form partnerships across geographical and institutional lines. During the 2011/2012 program year, this project will unfold in Milwaukee alone, and will expand to Madison and Minneapolis in the following years.

The Regional Artists’ Laboratory seeks to enrich two populations in our region: artists who may or may not already be drawn to art as an expression of their Jewish identity, and the Jewish public at large. We seek to create two interrelated programs: 1) An Artists’ Laboratory in which artists will combine the study of Jewish texts, both the traditional and the non-traditional, with their own creation of works of art that intersect with those texts, and 2) An Artists-in-Residence program for emerging artists which will interact with both the Laboratory and the Jewish Community at large. Both of these aspects of the program would connect with an annual exhibit/showcase for the artists’ work. In all cases, we seek artists in the broadest sense of the word: visual, theatrical, musical, textural, literary, etc.