CBE Students Show Parsha Art at MOCA DC Gallery

Thanks Congregation Beth Emeth for posting information about this fabulous art show on your website.

Last semester, I co-taught a class called The Parsha Project in Congregation Beth Emeth's Chai School, in Herndon, Virginia. We had 25 students total participating in the project. Paul Moskowitz, my teaching partner, worked with the students in a more "left-brained" manner, delving into text, exploring different ways of studying text to develop me

aningful interpretations. I worked with the students in a more "right-brained" approach, giving them an opportunity to take what they learned with Paul and use it to create visual interpretations of the text.

Each student picked their parsha (part of Torah read each week). Most of the parshot were from Genesis, since that was what was being read at the time. I gave the students a worksheet asking them various questions to help them bring forth ideas and connections that would help them create their work. The questions explored: why they picked the text; what interested them about that particular text; what emotions were generated from reading the text; what emotions were expressed in the text; what colors, textures, shapes, do they associate with the text.

Once the students had this information, they incorporated it into their work. Perhaps the background was the texture associated with an emotion. Or maybe they used a specific color in their piece because it somehow related to the text. Through a step-by-step process, the students worked on their pieces, working from the inside out, and from the background to the foreground. By the time they were finished, each student created a unique, mixed media piece that depicts their parsha and interprets it in a new way.

Not only are these interpretations interesting, they are great pieces of art in their own right!

There is a reception for the students at MOCA DC

on Saturday, January 23, from 7-9pm.

MOCA DC is located at 1054 31st St, NW, Washington, DC 20037. It is located in the Canal Square in Georgetown.

Everyone is welcome. Please come on out and show your support for these artists!