A Fine Arts Facelift

Washington Hebrew’s Fine Arts Committee is beginning an effort to re-imagine and re-animate our public spaces. Our first effort is the re-hanging of a portion of the Kreeger Lobby at Temple.  For Passover, we will hang Washington Hebrew’s 10-panel Passover Portfolio by Shlomo Katz. Katz may be best known in America for his work at the U.S. Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs. We also will hang a few pieces from our collection related to the founding of the State of Israel to recognize Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha’Atzmaut).

The Board has adopted a new Fine Arts Gift Acceptance Policy. We would like to focus on the acquisition of art by Jewish artists and art relevant to Jewish themes and the modern American Jewish experience and would welcome the chance to talk to members about possible gifts of fine art. In particular, our existing modest holdings do not include a significant amount of Post-War or non-representational art relevant to our mission.

We hope to curate shows on artists in our collection, supplemented by loans or gifts from congregants. Initially, we are focusing on Yakov Agam and Adolph Gottlieb and perhaps Leon Berkowitz and Mindy Weisel, but are open to suggestions. Financial support has been obtained from [one congregant] for the activities of the Fine Arts Committee (for which we are most grateful) and of course, further support is welcome.

As WHC seeks to be a more inviting and inclusive community, we are making our physical spaces more beautiful and look forward to sharing more fine arts activities in the coming seasons.

For more details, visit our Fine Arts Collection page.

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