The Jewish Identity & Legacy Project is an oral history, arts and storytelling project with a focus upon Jewish elders and their legacy.  The project took place at Sholom Home, an elder facility in the Twin Cities.  The project began with a series of oral histories around which I developed artwork and video. 

Sholom acted as a sponsor and the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest advised. The videos now reside in the archives of the University of Minnesota.  With a grant in hand from the Minnesota Historical Society (through funds from the State of Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund), I began a series of interviews with a cross-section of residents, most in their 90s and  spanning those who grew up in early immigrant communities in Minnesota, Russian immigrants and Holocaust survivors. A second grant supported a series of cross-generational interviews.

The stories were often visually rich and our subjects relished the retelling.  Some stories were painful.  Many were deeply moving.  Some could state their identity and legacy clearly.  More often they told us stories out of which it emerged, not neatly packaged, but evident nonetheless. Together they give glimpses of the life experiences that create identity and in turn the legacy of the broader Jewish community.  

Click on thumbnails to view the larger image, read the underlying story as well as link to related blogs and video excerpts.