March 1 – May 31, 2026
Congregation Beth El Kesser Israel, 85 Harrison Street, New Haven, CT
March 14 Artist Talk following Shabbat services
non-BEKI members rsvp to: art@beki.org
Heather G. Stoltz specializes in storytelling through fabric arts and collage, creating quilted wall hangings and fabric sculptures inspired by social justice issues, parenthood, and Jewish texts. Her unique style of expressionfrequently features human forms in both two and three dimensions in brightly-colored, whimsical environments.
A former engineer, Heather found a serendipitous connection to quilting as an artistic medium after pivoting careers to pursue a masters in Jewish Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary. A class assignment that led her to begin experimenting with fiber arts.
“My mother and I had recently learned how to quilt, and I was already bored following patterns,” Heather said. “So I decided to try to create two quilted wall hangings that reflected our studies that semester: one about the stories of Creation and another about Eve reaching for the knowledge that the fruit in the garden promised.”
In those quilts, Heather found a new calling. She switched her focus to Jewish Women’s Studies and created another quilted wall hanging for her Master’s Thesis. She has since used her art to respond to contemporary social and cultural issues as well.
Named as one of The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” for 2012, Heather received a 2011 Manhattan Community Art Funds grant for Temporary Shelter for her installation piece about unhoused New Yorkers. Her work has been exhibited nationally and featured in Quilts and Human Rights, Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis, Jewish Threads, and several other publications. She was a Drisha Arts Fellow 2008 – 2010 and was an Artist-in–Residence at the 2008 National Havurah Committee Summer Institute.
Heather lives in Harrison, NY with her husband Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman and their two children.
