Exhibitions and Installations

Works in many media are exhibited throughout the year in the Heschel-King Room on the third floor of Mishkan Shalom. Most exhibitions explore issues of social justice or other areas of concern; they represent another dimension of our community's work toward tikkun olam (repair of the world). All exhibitions are free, open to the public and usually remain for several months.

Current Exhibition: Carlos Nuñez "Calles de Oro" Art Exhibit

Calles de Oro (Streets of Gold) brings together a series of paintings reflecting the widely-held belief among immigrants that the streets of the U.S. are paved with gold, and provides a perspective on what immigrants go through to reach these so-called "streets of gold." An immigrant from Ecuador raised in the U.S., Nuñez's paintings reflect on his past by using words that have echoed for him since childhood.

The paintings speak about issues of immigration, economics and class structure and are infused with narratives of heroism, desperation and greed.

Installations

A number of works of art, permanently installed throughout the building, enhance the beauty and sanctity of our surroundings. Our sanctuary furnishings and our original ark, now in the chapel, and our Ner Tamidim (eternal lights in the sanctuary and chapel), each have wonderful stories connected to them. The Yahrzeit Memorial, suspended from the third floor atrium of the main stairwell, and the Holocaust Memorial in our garden, above the amphitheater, were both significant projects which each took several years to be realized

Mississippi Freedom Summer: From the Old Jim Crow to the New:

Jews and African Americans for Racial Justice

As part of our community’s commitment to ending racial injustice and mass incarceration in this country, Mishkan Shalom has recently acquired this powerful photographic exhibit. This exhibit will be available periodically.

Consisting of over 40 photographs and narrative developed by Larry Bush, editor of Jewish Currents magazine, the exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of Mississippi’s Freedom Summer, from the Old Jim Crow to the New.

The photographs showcase the work of civil rights, then and now, and the Jewish imperative to work for racial equity and justice.

Curator Larry Bush joined us from Woodstock for the opening, which preceded the One Book Mishkan Panel Discussion featuring Simone Zelitch, author of Waveland, and civil rights activists.

Honoring the Future Climate Change Exhibit (Winter/Spring 2015)

An art exhibition, open to the public, exploring the complex subject of climate change and the path to prepared, resilient and "climate smART" communities.

This exhibit focused on climate change through the works of two artists, Peter Handler and Paula Winokur. Sponsored by Honoring the Future, the exhibit included Handler’s series, “Canaries in the Coal Mine,” five freestanding pieces examining places on earth pointing to signs of climate change; and Winokur’s ceramics and aerial photographs of Greenland glaciers of melting ice and other impacts of climate change.

[Image: Calving Glaciers, Paula Winokur, Porcelain.]

About the Artists

Paula Winokur is an internationally renowned sculptor whose work has been in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art since 1970. She has taught ceramics at Arcadia University for over 30 years.

Peter Handler is a well known furniture maker and artist and a member of Mishkan Shalom. Peter just received the Audubon Artist Inspiring Conservation Award, the highest honor given by the National Audubon Society.

Their work can be seen on the HTF website: Climate SmARTs: Artist to Know Peter Handler and Climate SmARTs: Artist to Know Paula Winokur; and on their individual websites: Handler Studio and Paula Winokur.

Download the Honoring the Future Art Exhibit Flyer.

El Viaje de los Niños: Journey of the Children (Spring 2014)

This exhibit of colorful dioramas and paintings and personal testimonies describing the harrowing journey of Mexican children across the border into the U.S.  was on display in the Heschel-King Room during winter/spring 2014.

Nora Hiriart Litz, a printmaker/artist and social justice activist, worked with immigrant children from Southwest Philadelphia, some of whom attended the opening celebration to explain their work. Children from our Congregational School were there to meet the young artists and learn about their experiences.

According to the exhibit’s statement, “Litz’s main goal was, and continues to be, to help these children find their voices through art so that they can begin to express their hurt and find a way to heal their wounds.” Exhibit attendees can hear the children’s stories (in Spanish or English) via audio tracks at each diorama, which include images of the children’s communities in Mexico and also the perils of their crossings.

Besides the children’s dioramas, the exhibit includes small paintings and poems from immigrant adults describing their journeys across the border, a map showing typical journey routes and walking times, and one diorama made by a ‘coyote’ (head smuggler) about his experiences with the immigrants. There is also a long sheet of brown paper (“the desert”), one end representing Mexico and the other the U.S., where Litz “asked the children to draw the things they encountered between locations.”

The diorama sculptures “touch upon the many hardships the children faced — from leaving family behind in Mexico, to border control security, to secretly moving from ‘safe house’ to ‘safe house.’”

For more information, contact Lance Laver, Mishkan Coordinators.