Night of New Beginnings

 

 Thanks to Diane Pecararo, friend and fellow participant in the Artists’ Lab for reporting on this session in my absence. -- Susan Weinberg
 
It was a night of new beginnings.  In the beautiful sukkah at Beth El, artists new and old gathered for the first meeting of the Jewish Artist Lab, now in its third year. The weather was cool, the night clear and there was food and drink, of course.

Following is a brief description of how the meeting agenda played out:


Robyn opened with an invitation to be present in the sukkah. She reaffirmed the theme of “water” for the year and introduced Liba Zweigbaum Herman as the facilitator replacing Anat, who moved back to Israel this summer.  

Rabbi Davis led us in a song and said the blessing for the sukkah. He presented a parable about a king who prefers gifts made of “clods of earth” to more conventional treasures. He posed the question for discussion: Why would the king find these simple (handmade) gifts so meaningful?

Meryl offered an article on drought conditions in Israel and talked about the importance of water in the Middle East. She read a prayer for rain from the Siddur (p.156) asking God  to remember our patriarchs and grant rain in Israel in moderation, just the

right amount.

Then Liba introduced herself as artist and teacher and led the group through the activity of sharing personal objects that reminded each of us of water. These brief stories made for lively narratives- some humorous, some touching- all evocative of a place or emotional space we had occupied.  Among the objects, there were rocks, ritual cups, keys, shells, an artist bucket, bath toys, photos, fruit, water as solid, water bottles and even empty pockets. Liba also shared a thought-provoking piece by Rebecca Loncraine called Water and Creativity.

It is important here to welcome the new members-poets, a song writer, painters, multidisciplinary artists. Their voices and creativity will add to the already rich personality of the group.  We are artists of many stripes.  Whatever lake, river, ocean, pond  we favor has influenced each of us in very different ways. I suspect this diversity of perspectives will continue to show itself in the work produced in this coming year. 

~Diane Pecararo