A celebration of Jewish life

A celebration of Jewish life — that’s what the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn is all about. Think Jewish history, culture and traditions brought to life through exhibits and programs featuring hands-on learning and contemporary technology.

Museum materials note that it’s “a setting for children of all faiths and backgrounds to gain a positive perspective and awareness of the Jewish heritage, fostering tolerance and understanding.” The diversity of Jewish culture is well-represented by a giant face on the front of the museum — a composite of smaller photographs of vastly different faces.

The museum has welcomed more than 500,000 visitors since opening in April 2005 — and is “dedicated to the memory of Ari Halberstam, the 16-year-old Yeshiva student who was shot and killed by a terrorist on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994.”

I toured all but the fourth floor during a recent visit to NYC, because new “Voyage through Jewish History” exhibits were under construction. They’ll debut during an April 9 grand opening celebration. These new exhibits include “Patriarchs and Matriarchs,” “Mount Sinai Experience,” “Temple and Tabernacle,” “Land of Israel,” “Sages through the Ages,” “Jewish World Today,” “The Holocaust” and “One Good Deed.”

I first explored the second floor, where dozens of elementary-age school children with chaperones were enjoying interactive activities. While there, I lingered to admire the remarkable details of a 20-foot original mosaic by Chassidic artist Michoel Muchnik — plus a Michael Schwartz work featuring 387,000 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.

Next I headed to the third floor, home to exhibits titled “6 Days of Creation,” “Shabbat,” “Kosher Supermarket,” “Kosher Kitchen” and “World of Good.” Also “Jewish Holidays” — where I walked through the replica of an old-fashioned shtetl (village) in which children explore the Jewish holiday cycle through hands-on activities like retelling the Purim story with puppets or reading about Passover while exploring a giant Seder plate.

Finally, I made my way to the fifth floor, where I discovered a miniature golf area dubbed “Six Holes of Life” and a “Gallery of Games” with giant wall-mounted activity boards that let children search for hidden Jewish treasures, create images of Jewish objects with light and more.

The Jewish Children’s Museum makes clear the power of coupling education with entertainment in the service of understanding and appreciating history, culture and tradition. I can’t help wondering what it might be like to explore a children’s museum spotlighting the art, history, beliefs, practices and people of all the world’s religions.

— Lynn

Note: The Jewish Museum New York invites you to celebrate Passover by exploring their online collection — which you can click here to enjoy.

Coming up: Quilting for justice, What’s new at Valley museums?

Once upon a goddess

Try something new like Sanjay Patel's book at bedtime

I’ve long been fascinated by world religions — because the study of religion reveals a great deal about the nature of man. Recently my daughter Jennifer, who shares my interest in such things, showed me a book titled “The Little Book of Hindu Deities” — a Plume Book published by Penguin Group in 2006.

It’s the work of Sanjay Patel, an animator and storyboard artist at Pixar Animation Studios who has worked on films including “A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “The Incredibles” and more. Recently he created works for the “Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts” exhibition that runs through April 8 at the Asian Art Museum in Jennifer’s favorite city, San Francisco.

Most of the book consists of two-page spreads describing a Hindu deity on one side and depicting Patel’s playful image of it on the other. Jennifer quickly found the goddess she knew I’d most admire, portrayed by Patel holding a stringed musical instrument called a sitar.

She’s Sarasvati — the goddess of knowledge and the arts. Patel notes that she’s the first goddess to be worshipped in Hinduism, adding that “She developed a creative community of her own and has come to symbolize the independent woman as a thinker and a gifted creator.”

Folks who explore Patel’s work will learn about Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva — the Trimurti (Hindu trinity). Also manifestations of Shiva, avatars of Vishnu and assorted demigods. Even nine planets, four animal gods and the Hindu chronology of creation.

Patel's latest work features tear-out posters of Hindu deities

Patel recounts two great Hindu epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana, making both accessible for readers not well-versed in Hindu philosophy or religion. He also addresses a small portion of the Mahabharata called the Bhagavad Gita.

There’s even a hot pink glossary page with familiar terms from “karma” to “nirvana” plus lesser known words like “kalpa” (one cycle of creation), “puja” (a Hindu religious ceremony) and “maya” (illusion, or the things that blind us to our desires).

“The Little Book of Hindu Dieties” is full of colorfully written and illustrated tales that make for perfectly-sized bites of bedtime reading. Or a fun way for teens to begin thinking about how various traditions differ from their own.

Click here to learn more about Patel’s work.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to read a Jeff Greenwald piece titled “Sanjay Patel: A Hipster’s Guide to Hinduism,” and here to learn about a Disney Pixar film called “Brave” that’s scheduled for June 22 release.

Coming up: Weekend arts sampler, Painting meets personality

Art meets religion

Artwork provided by artists readying the "Miracle Report" exhibition at the ASU Art Museum

Five religions. Fifty-plus examples. More than 1500 years. That’s what you’ll experience during an exhibition titled “Sacred Word and Image: Five World Religions” coming to the Phoenix Art Museum Wed., Jan 4, 2012. Folks who find their way to the museum at noon that day can enjoy a 30-minute gallery talk by Janet Baker, Ph.D., the musuem’s curator of Asian art.

The exhibition features items from the museum’s collection as well as several private collections in Arizona — and “explores themes of sacred space, language, otherwordly visions and miraculous events, symbols of power and divine beauty in Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Islamic and Christian works of art.”

Featured objects will include manuscripts, textiles, prayer rugs, gilded shrines, icons, jeweled reliquaries and painted altarpieces. The Phoenix Art Museum has documented the exhibition by creating its first electronic catalogue — featuring short essays by Arizona experts on five world religions and detailed digital photographs. The exhibition runs through Mar. 25, 2012.

The film “Kundun,” which explores the life of Tibet’s 14th Dalai Lama, will be screened at the Phoenix Art Museum at 1pm on Mar. 4, 2012. The film, directed by Martin Scorsese, examines issues faced by the young Buddhist leader — including Chinese oppression and other social obstacles — and considers how the Dalai Lama’s faith guided his politics. It’s being presented by the ASU Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture.

The Phoenix Art Museum presents another religion-related exhibition through Jan. 22, 2012. “Seeing is Believing: Rebecca Campbell and Angela Ellsworth” features artwork by L.A. artist Campbell and Phoenix artist Ellsworh, both of whom “spent their childhoods in Utah and within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.”

The “Seeing isBelieving” exhibition features painting, sculpture and installations that “touch on memory and nostalgia but are grounded in the present and the reinterpretation of their experiences as well as Mormon traditions and practices.” Ellsworth’s great-great grandfather was the fifth prophet of the Mormon church.

The ASU Art Museum at Arizona State University in Tempe presents an exhibition titled “Miracle Report: Juliane Swartz and Ken Landauer, Social Studies 8″ from Jan. 21-June 2, 2012. The opening reception takes place Tues., Jan. 20 from 5-7pm. “Social Studies” is an artist-in-residence program at the museum.

Artists Swartz and Landauer will “explore the miraculous through people’s perceptions of it in their lives, interviewing students, school children and community members of all ages and backgrounds” — then combine their findings into “an installation of fleeting vignettes.” The artists envision a final product that blends beauty, hocus-pocus and unexplainable magic.

This project is supported by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts as part of the Social Studies series. Initiated by John D. Spiak, the “Miracle Report” exhibition is curated by Heather Sealy Lineberry with Nicole Herden.

“The idea is that miracles come in all flavors, shapes and sizes,” according to Deborah Sussman Susser with the ASU Art Museum. “So religion will play a role for some, and not for others.” Folks interested in retelling their own miracles — or inviting an artist to record miracles recounted by members of a community group — can contact Herden at nicole.herden@asu.edu.

— Lynn

Note: For some, the debate over guns takes on near religious fervor. Folks interested in second amendment related-issues can experience “Securing a Free State: The Second Amendment Project — Jennifer Nelson, Social Studies 7″ curated by Lekha Hileman Waitoller at the ASU Art Museum through Dec. 31, 2011. Susser notes that the museum is open 11am-5pm on Sat., Dec. 31.

Coming up: How low can you go?, Library meets love affair

Faces of diversity

Today Muslims the world over are observing Eid al-Adha, which commemorates Abraham’s selfless devotion to God. Valley mosques are hosting special morning prayers, and local Muslims will be gathering with family and friends to celebrate at Encanto Park, Castles N’ Coasters and other child-friendly venues.

The occasion got me thinking a bit more about Islamic arts and culture. I’ve long admired the architecture of the mosque in Tempe located near the little theater that was once home to Childsplay. It’s right next to Salam’s Market & Deli — where I sometimes join my daughter Jennifer, a cultural anthroplogy major at ASU, for lunch.

I’m looking forward to exploring the Metropolitan Museum of Art next time I’m in New York City visiting my other daughter Lizabeth, an acting major at Pace University. The museum recently opened fifteen new galleries, which now house more than 1,000 items from its extensive collection of Islamic art.

During my last trip to NYC, I viewed an exhibit titled “NYChildren,” which runs through Dec. 21. It features “a salon-style presentation of over 160 beautiful color portraits of children.” Each hails from a different country, and each lives in NYC.

The exhibit is located at Park51 Community Center, a site some of the more fearful among us once dubbed “the mosque at Ground Zero.” It sits on the same unassuming street as the Amish Market and The Anne Frank Center USA. Visitors pass a small room filled with prayer rugs as they enter the exhibit, but otherwise it looks like any other gallery space.

The following photos include a couple I took that day, plus three sent to me by the center. Each photograph in the exhibit is the work of artist Danny Goldfield, who shares that NYChildren “was inspired by the idea that the better we know our neighbors, the more open and healthy our lives become.”

Park51 Community Center in New York City

One portion of the NYChildren exhibit at Park51 in New York City

Danny Goldfield photograph of an NYC child from Afganistan

Danny Goldfield photograph of an NYC child from Ireland

Danny Goldfield photo of an NYC child from Mali

Every culture gives us children, and children are the future. Love them, cherish them, respect them and appreciate them.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to enjoy the faces and artwork of children closer to home. Click here to learn about a companion book to the NYChildren exhibit.

Coming up: Anne Frank exhibit returns to Arizona

Update: The Islamic Center of Tucson has rescheduled its Eid Al-Adha picnic due to anticipated poor weather. It’s now scheduled to take place Sun, Nov. 20 from 1-5pm at McCormick Park in Tucson.

Update: NYChildren — conceived during a trip to Mesa, Arizona — is being exhibited through 1/3/13 at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. Click here or call 646-505-5708 for details. — 12/4/12 LT