ETA: We’re on American University’s homepage! Check out their write up of our fabulous event.

Nearly 100 people made it to American University in Washington, DC last night to see celebrated choreographer and Visiting Israeli Artist Idan Cohen perform and then discuss life and work with JSEP fellow and dance scholar Dr. Nina Spiegel.

Photos are up on Flickr!

NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater: Applications are now open for writers, editors or producers who report on theater and musical theater, for an 11-day Fellowship at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism in Los Angeles (May 17-27, 2010). This is an intensive program of practical experience, instruction and discussion of major issues in theater and arts journalism. Applications are available online. Application deadline: received by March 11, 2010.

Monday, February 8th, 8:00 pm: director and Film Fund grantee Michal Goldman will be discussing the making of “At Home in Utopia” on Art and Susan Zuckerman’s “Z” Travel and Leisure Show on Radio WVOX 1460

Learn about the radio show here and listen online:
http://ztravelandleisure.com/the_z_travel_%26_leisure_hour.html.

We’ve just returned from Los Angeles where we attended the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) conference. Every year the folks at CAJM put on a rigorous and compelling series of panels, plenaries, symposia and events that are sure to engage and enlighten. This year was no different.  With discussions on topics ranging from “Exhibitions of Influence” to engaging new audiences, the three day conference was packed with useful information and provocative conversation. Over 130 participants from museums of all shapes and sizes were in attendance.

Elise Bernhardt, Aaron Paley, Peter Stein and Limor Tomer

Above is a picture of our panel at the conference – “Programming for the 21st Century”. We discussed how economic circumstances encourage collaboration and today’s audiences expect a full spectrum of multidisciplinary programming;  how do programmers and curators work together to move beyond the exhibition? How can we develop collaborative cultural programs that embrace multiple disciplines and attract new audiences?  We invited Aaron Paley of Yiddishkayt, Peter Stein of the SFJFF and Limor Tomer of the Whitney to talk about different kinds of programming that work in concert with exhibitions and how bodies and objects and work together and supplement each other.

There were panels on a wide variety of topics, as well as some amazing site visits including UCLA’s Fowler Museum, the Museum of Tolerance, the Skirball Cultural Center and the collection at the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation.

For more info on the conference, visit the CAJM website….

Dubbed the first searchable index of fine art and folk images devoted solely to the Bible and its commentaries, “Visual  Midrash”  has just launched.

“Virtual Midrash” is the brainchild of Dr. Jo Milgrom, a prominent Israeli lecturer in art as midrash at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies graduate school, as well as biblical scholar Dr. Joel Duman, lecturer at the Schechter Institute and Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem . The website features some 560 works of art, along with essays in English and Hebrew on themes including Creation, Cain and Abel, Abraham, Hagar and Sarah, Jacob and his Dreams, and Moses.

Each art image on the web site includes referenced biblical sources, artistic medium, date and short description of the work, as well as biographies of the artists. Topical hypertext essays examine a total of twenty themes explored in “Virtual Midrash,” and  include links to related texts from Jewish Midrash and Commentary as well as from Christian and Muslim writings on biblical subjects. The collection is searchable by artist, subject, medium and/or biblical source.

The website is the work of the TALI Education Fund, which provides support for Jewish studies at more than 185 Israeli schools and pre-schools. It was funded by Howard and Carole Tanenbaum, Targum Shlishi, and David Klein. Additional funding is being sought to enable all 3,000 art images to be processed and included on the site.