Mark Podwal: Drawing On My Eastern European Roots 

In Commemoration Of International Holocaust Remembrance Day artist Mark Podwal will deliver a slide presentation at the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University, NYC.

Tablet Magazine has called Mark Podwal “one of our great American Jewish artists.” Initially known for his drawings for The New York Times Op-Ed page, Podwal’s artworks have been exhibited and published worldwide. He is the author and illustrator of numerous books, many of which focus on Eastern European Jewish history, tradition, and folklore.

Podwal’s presentation will show images from his collaborations with Elie Wiesel, Harold Bloom, and Francine Prose. Slides will also include his series “Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka,” the Polish shtetl where his mother was born, as well as an image of the 13-foot mural he was asked to design for Dąbrowa’s high school wall.

Moreover, his textiles for Prague’s gothic Altneuschul and Renaissance High Synagogue will be discussed along with as his current series, “Reimagining Polish Synagogues as Jewish Ceremonial Objects.” Elie Wiesel wrote, in his catalogue essay for Podwal’s first Prague Jewish Museum exhibition, “Such is the power of this artist: he captures what death has forgotten to take.”

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, 617 Kent Hall, Columbia University

1140 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027.  (map)

Tickets here (free and available to the public), or scan the code on the image below.