Comment by Andrea RC Kasper on March 31, 2011 at 7:18am

I have to jump in as a dancer, who feels that dance as a real option for a Jewish kid is not very encouraged...in general I feel that as a community we are too academically focused, I think it is a strength and also a weakness.  I wonder whether we truly value the variety of ways people are productive and important in society and whether we are willing to let our children explore them.

But my interest in this is two fold, the issue of art in schools but also the issue of Jewish artists making their work professionally in a Jewish context  - whatever that means.

These salons are brilliant in that they are local meeting places for art to be happening but which seem welcoming and open to everyone.  Does it defeat the purpose to try and create something virtually? or is it a good place to begin?  a Virtual Salon?

Comment by Andrea RC Kasper on March 31, 2011 at 5:39pm

Did you guys see the video posted by Jonathan Woocher on the main page about the Kehillah Project?  If not take a look, it's a wonderful use of the arts to build appreciation for Jewish Israeli life and art.  (Sadly, at least, according the video the performing arts were missing completely.)

 

Also, there is Bima, http://www.campchannel.com/summer-camps/BIMA-at-Brandeis-University...

Comment by Andrea RC Kasper on April 6, 2011 at 6:04am

check this out, this is a very exciting fellowship.

http://sixpointsfellowship.org/

Comment by Andrea RC Kasper on April 11, 2011 at 11:26am

Well we are slowly gaining some momentum here.  So, some things we have been thinking about and perhaps want to take forward:

1. can we build some sort of virtual community for Jewish educators, by Jewish educators and artists to guide, mentor and present ideas to other educators? Seems clear that teachers who pursue continuing ed are not getting the arts.

2. Can we build a virtual community, perhaps, for Jewish artists to come together and present themselves as such?

 

Is anyone interested in one of these in particular, or both?  Can they be combined?

Comment by Julie Schwartz Wohl on April 11, 2011 at 11:47am

It seems to me that your second idea, of building a virtual community of Jewish artists, could lead to the first idea, of using those artists to create webinars, write model lesson plans and share ideas---perhaps there could be two tracks within the virtual community--1. jewish artists working together to create jewish art, discuss ideas and share their projects, and 2. Jewish artists working together to inspire Jewish teachers to create art in their classrooms.  (webinars, teaching techniques, sharing projects, etc.)

 

questions: where do you find the Jewish artists?  How do you get them to commit to regular communication/participation within your virtual community?  Can anyone join the community? could it involve some in person meeting time or space--a yearly retreat/meeting of Jewish artists? 

Comment by Andrea RC Kasper on April 11, 2011 at 3:42pm

Yes!  Thanks Julie great point.  I also think the integrity and quality is better if we begin with the artists themselves and providing a place for them to come together.

 

Finding Jewish artists...now that will be the big one.  I have become more and more involved in the twitter world and am finding folks there as well as more organizations than I thought supporting us!  Who knew?  I think with technology today, we can better identify and invite Jewish artists than ever before.  From what I can see there isn't one place, so this fills a need I believe. Also, hopefully each of us in our world of art knows some people who are both artists and Jewish:)

 

Anyone interested in beginning to make this happen? My guess is that we would need to find someone who is great at designing a web presence and one that would make sense for this kind of group.  and a GREAT name. Thoughts??????

 

This is exciting!

 

 

Comment by Adrian A. Durlester on April 11, 2011 at 4:36pm

As we explore these options, let us not forget to make a diligent effort to scour the internet and social media for similar groups or ones that may already exist that are similar in scope and interest. Part of the problem with the internet and social media is how much needless duplication there is (which also winds up splitting communities rather than uniting them.)

Comment by Julie Schwartz Wohl on April 11, 2011 at 6:11pm

very exciting indeed!  . I am about to move out of the Jewish core (New York/New Jersey), to Central Pennsylvania, where I'm concerned about maintaining my connection to Jewish education and Jewish Art.  I was thinking about starting my own business as a traveling Jewish arts educator, but perhaps this idea, of creating the virtual Jewish arts community with an eye towards democratizing Jewish art education, is the answer instead. (if I decide to forego my own idea, in favor of this one, I even have a name for it!)   There are many groups out there who work in some form or another with the Jewish arts---each one does something unique--and there are also websites devoted to different areas--some still operational, others not.  None of them seem to do exactly what I was thinking about, nor what you seem to be talking about Andrea, but perhaps step number one would be to do an organization "review"---maybe even as part of this site--a document that notes Jewish arts organizations and summarizes (like Avodah Arts, the Jewish Lens), what they do and where they operate.  if our true goal is to connect Jewish arts and education, and make it visible to the larger Jewish world then creating a site where people can locate a multitude of options in Jewish art could be step one.  --even a cursory look shows many organizations out there... 

further, and more exciting to me, would be what we do to create an active community, and not just a clearinghouse.  

so, in a very long winded way---I would be very interested in exploring this idea and being involved in the creation of this effort.  however, I do NOT want to do it alone.  Who else is in? :)

Comment by Noemi Szoychen on April 11, 2011 at 6:41pm

Well, I've been trying to add a comment for the last 20 min and my computer keeps playing tricks on my. So, here I go (for the 4th time).

Hi everyone, glad to be here and learn from all of you. Before I continue, I'd like to answer Julie that I am willing to learn more about her idea.

I am kind of in a backward situation than Julie: I live in a place with virtually zero opportunities on Jewish Art (museums, galleries, workshops etc). So I have devoted hundreds of hours ( I am not kidding) in searching, finding and interacting with the amazing online Jewish art communities and websites. I do not know if you've been following Omanoont but I have and I have found this initiative very useful and innovating. Is this sort of what you have in mind Julie? If not please let me know where can I learn more about your idea. My signature teaching style as a Jewish educator for over 20 years had been with the arts.

I currently work as a Jewish ed. technologist and art resources teacher and I will be training our teachers very soon on using online art resources in their Jewish studies teaching. I use a variety of visual arts as well as media art.You can learn a little bit more about what I've done at my blog: Jewlearn-it.

I've been working on a wiki with ( I hope to have ready soon) selective, updated and good Jewish education resources for educators. A large portion of it is dedicated to Jewish art and Jewish art lesson plans that are already available online. Anyway, I'll be posting more later, I just wanted to join in the conversation for now. Cheers,

Noemi Szoychen

 

Comment by Adrian A. Durlester on April 11, 2011 at 8:24pm

To Julie: It's funny. After over 3 decades away, I'm returning home to NYC to begin teaching music at a day school in the fall. Let me assure you, Julie, that staying connected and in the loop will not be as hard as you might think-especially given today's technology. As a Jewish educator, musician, and theater production professional, I lived and worked in may far flung places, like Fargo, North Dakota and Elkhart, Indiana. Staying connected takes effort but it is possible (and was even possible 30 years ago, albeit with more primitive forms of networking. I was involved with an online virtual real-time Pesakh Seder conducted via an early online chat program in the early 90s that connected folks all around the great plains area. In addition, don;t sell smaller Jewish communities short. More often than not, there is great interest in and support for Jewish arts precisely because they don't have quick and easy access to it all the time.

FWIW, though, at age 56 I'm hardly a digital native, I'm no digital immigrant either. I've coined the term "digital naturalized citizen" - I;'ve been riding the crest of the tech wave from the start. Unlike many of my colleagues, I believe that virtual community DOES allow more than transmission of simple data, and that it is not, per se, impersonal.

The arts community has and will continue to benefit greatly from the collaborative possibilities provided by technology and in particular Web 2.0 tech.

Let's make it happen.

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