Testimonials

In 2008, Yona Verwer asked me about the idea of creating an organization to help build a community of Jewish artists and promote their work through exhibitions, lectures, and meetings, which I thought was very needed. In the ensuing years, Yona has guided the Jewish Art Salon into a dynamic force, both nationally and internationally.
I am honored to be a member of its advisory board, and I am sure that the Jewish Art Salon, under Yona’s leadership, will continue to grow in stature and influence in the larger art community.
Tobi Kahn is a painter and sculptor whose work has been shown in over 70 solo exhibitions and over 60 museum and group shows. Works by Kahn are in major museum, corporate, and private collections. He is a professor of fine arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, a gallery and museum lecturer, and co-founded of the Artists’ Beit Midrash and Avoda Arts. 

The Jewish Art Salon is a symbol of the tremendous growth of interest in the creation and study of art with Jewish content over the last few decades. Its membership includes artists who work in many styles and mediums and whose individual concerns are as varied as its membership. Through its meetings, exhibition and educational programs, and various outreach efforts, it appeals to and brings together a surprisingly large number of artists who choose to explore their religious and cultural heritage, examine what it means to create art with Jewish content in the contemporary world, and, in effect, help create a modern Jewish culture appropriate to life in America. As a clearing house for ideas and a meeting place for artists to discuss issues of the moment as well as provide spaces where artists can show their work–where their work can be seen and discussed–the Salon offers its members an unparalleled opportunity to develop and enhance their lives and careers on many levels–professional, personal, religious, and spiritual. 

The Jewish Art Salon has become the most important forum for the focus of Jewish visual arts events and accomplishments. It is the most active Jewish artists’ information exchange – anywhere. Its importance in validating Jewish identification in the visual arts and transmitting information about relevant events cannot be overestimated. The J.A.S. should be given credit for establishing a recognition, within the arts community, of those subject matters that were previously dismissed in the aesthetic discourse. The very presence of the J.A.S. continues to encourage those many, formerly disenfranchised, artists who continue to manifest a connection to their heritage.
The Jewish Art Salon, through the dedication of Yona Verwer, has made a name for itself in its mission to promote art on Jewish subjects. Countering the perception that Jewish themed art is primarily “kitsch,” the Jewish Art Salon is a unique resource for artists and art professionals.

As an emerging artist, I have found the Jewish Art Salon to be instrumental in providing the inspiration, support and education needed to continue my career in the arts. The programming they provide and the connections I’ve made through JAS helped encourage me in thinking creatively about my next steps as an artist.

The Jewish Art Salon made 2016 a really great year for me. This year I participated in several exhibitions organized by the J.A.S., which resulted in my painting selling recently as well. I love meeting curators and artists who genuinely inspire my vision and concretely offer opportunities for exhibiting it.

The Salon serves as a community for all artists who work with Jewish subject matter and Jewish ideas. It has held about 15 exhibitions so far in museums, galleries, alternative spaces, and community centers, as well as linkages with the Jerusalem Biennial. The website is a great resource, displaying people’s works, calls for art and personal accomplishments. The Salon meetings are a great place to meet artists, discuss ideas and see works that you probably wouldn’t see in a “regular” gallery setting. It is an important organization that continues to grow.

jewish_art_salon_jerusalem_biennale_backwall_crowd_web

Opening Reception of the Jewish Art Salon exhibition “New York / New Work” at the Jerusalem Biennale 2015. Art performance “Blue Like Me” by Siona Benjamin at the Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem.

jewish_art_salon_pasover_exhibit_bjag

Opening Reception of “Passover and the Consequences of Freedom” at the Brooklyn Jewish Art Gallery, 2016. Exhibit curated by Richard McBee.

 

jomix_pmja_opening

Opening Reception “JOMIX: Jewish Comics – Art & Derivation” at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, 2015. Curators: Joel Silverstein, Aimee Rubensteen, Richard McBee. 

%d bloggers like this: