I
do many talks and workshops on a variety
of topics. I have found that the
combination of story, learning and
artwork is quite powerful and helps
participants remember information as our
memories are largely visual.
Please click here
to download a summary of this
information.
Telling
Your
Family Story
With Collage
I do a
talk that
explores the creation of
collages. It addresses
materials, basic design
concepts, developing a
theme, deciding on a
background as well as
central image and
supporting images. I take
collages that I have
created and deconstruct
them so you can see the
steps I considered in
their creation. This
can be done as either a
talk or a hands-on
collage workshops to help
participants create a
collage that tells their
family story.
Jewish Genealogy
My journey started with a series of
artwork on family history titled Putting a
Face on Family History.
As part of that exhibition I
explored the stories behind my
personal family history. As I
frequently do talks on family
history, I incorporated the artwork
and stories which makes it
engaging as well as
informative. My genealogy
talks can focus on Jewish genealogy
or address the broader topics that
are common to all. I also can
do more hands-on workshops on this
topic if there is computer access.
Jewish Identity and Legacy
My series on Jewish
Identity
and Legacy gives a flavor
for the Jewish community and the
diverse strands that compose
it. Included in the interviews
are stories of those who lived in
early Jewish immigrant communities
in Minnesota, those who were
survivors and immigrated after the
war and Jewish immigrants from the
former Soviet Union who came in the
1980s and 1990s. Typically I play 2
minute clips of the interviews and
talk about how the paintings grew
out of their stories. This is
a talk that also addresses themes of
how we honor the legacy of elders
through story.
The book, We Spoke Jewish, is based
on this series. In conjunction with
it, I speak about topics such as
immigration, oral history and story
telling.
Holocaust Topics Much of my work
relates to the Holocaust and
I do a number of talks that
make use of different
elements in my work.
The Silence
Speaks Loudly, my work on
Lithuania addresses how Lithuania
deals with their Holocaust history
today and the traces that remain of
the former Jewish community. I
address the stories contained within
these series of paintings.
These are by their nature serious
stories that address the death of
the Jews of Lithuania (Gedenken),
the
story that was buried for many
years, quite literally in the
ground, and unearthed and published
(Buried
Truths
II) and the stories behind
what is now a restaurant in
Lithuania (Shalom
Aleichem). In this talk
I explore the traces of the Jews
that remain in Vilnius and
surrounding areas (The
Nation
of Israel Lives, I
Was Here and The
Jews
Like Blue). I use my
artwork as a storytelling
vehicle.
The Jewish
Identity
and Legacy series also
involved interviews with a number of
survivors. I have video of
many of them telling their story and
share excerpts with groups along
with the paintings that evolved out
of the video interviews.
I often use video excerpts
and you can find some of them on the
Identity/Legacy tab. Go to Postcard
from
New Ulm for an example of both
text and video.
I
have worked on a series of paintings
based on Holocaust stories from a
friend who is a survivor from the
same town as my family. On
occasion I speak in conjunction with
my friend. We have often exhibited
my artwork together with her family
photos that were hidden in family
members' shoes in the camps.
You can see some of the paintings in
this series at Dvora's
Story.
Reinvention
I am often asked to speak to the
topic of reinvention. My
journey has involved reinventing
myself as an artist and writer, from
a long career in finance.
Along the way I've often written
about this topic in my blog and the
process I explored to do this.
You can read more at my blog entries
titled
