Seven Years Later
Tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. My daughter is now the same age that my nephew was when someone burst into his school and shot 154 bullets in 4 minutes, killing 20 of his…
Land of the Free?
I have been staring at the computer screen for a long time, not knowing where to begin. In fact, I've been avoiding this post for months. I finished this piece, "Land of the Free?" back in February and didn't have…
Social Reform Movement inspires Middle School Art
Earlier this month, I had the priviledge of working with students at my old junior high school - Amity Middle School in Bethany, CT! With the help of a grant from the Jamie Hulley Arts Fund, the eighth graders created…
The World Turned Upside Down
Every day, it feels like something else happens that makes the world feel less stable. I wanted to create a piece that captured that sense of feeling off balance. While my last piece pictured an open field, I wanted this…
Social Justice Art Class in NYC
This semester, I have had the privilege of working with a wonderful group of young women through the Jewish Journeys Project at JCC in Manhattan. At each of four sessions, we studied Jewish texts about a social justice issue and…
Broken World
There are so many things wrong with our country and world right now, it is hard to choose one thing to focus on. Instead, I decided to make a piece about my feeling that the world is broken and there's…
Reflections on Refugees
In October, I had the privilege of working with Kol Ami's fabulous sixth grade class during their Sukkot festival. The class spoke about refugees and the holiday of Sukkot in the weeks leading up to the program. Then, on the…
Let Down Your Guard
"Let Down Your Guard" is about the conscious decision we make to allow another person to get close. When we come into contact with other people, especially those who may look or act differently, it can be difficult to peel back…
Families Make Social Justice Art
Yesterday, families at Woodlands Community Temple created fiber art about social justice causes that were important to them. The inspiration for the art was a new tradition called Ner Shel Tzedakah, which calls for families to devote the sixth night of Hanukkah…
Teens Consider the Homeless on Sukkot
Last week, during the holiday of Sukkot, I had the opportunity to work with a fantastic group of teenagers at Temple Israel Center in White Plains. I shared with them my Temporary Shelter project, highlighting the stories of two homeless…