“Thou Shall Not Want, The 7 Species of Sukkot” is a striking mixed-media art piece created by renowned local artist and arts educator Carol Buchman and inspired, she says, by a recent visit to Memphis’ partner city of Shoham in Israel.
The canvas is now hanging in Carol’s “Words Matter” exhibit in the Shainberg Art Gallery at the Memphis Jewish Community Center (MJCC), where the MJCC and Memphis Jewish Federation will co-host an Artists Lunch and Learn on Thursday, January 23 at 12:00 pm. Carol, who traveled to Shoham in October as a visiting artist to participate in Shoham’s Muse Festival, will discuss how the experience inspired her work. The Lunch and Learn is open to the community. Participants are invited to bring their own lunch; drinks and dessert will be provided.
Memphis Jewish Federation, operated by Jewish Community Partners, organized Carol’s visit as a program of the Memphis-Shoham Partnership, launched by Federation in 2016 in an effort to facilitate meaningful people-to-people relationships between the two communities.
Carol’s stay in Shoham was immersive— she connected with artists and community members by staying in the home of a local family, meeting with artists in their homes and studios, and conducting a mosaic workshop at a senior center.
At the three-day Muse Festival, Shoham’s landmark annual cultural event which draws thousands of people from throughout Israel, she engaged festival attendees in creating a multi-piece community mural. Two pieces of the mural are also on display in the “Words Matter” exhibit. The third piece is in Shoham for community enjoyment.
“It was an uplifting, inspiring, and memorable week,” Carol recalled in her announcement of the gallery opening, “doing mostly community art projects and getting to know the warm and talented artists and people of Shoham.”
The Memphis-Shoham Partnership has strengthened Memphis Jewish connections to Israel through school twinnings, delegations to both cities and other joint projects.
In February, the partnership is hosting Zehava Shneor, mother of fallen Israeli soldier from Shoham Sarit Shneor. Community members have the opportunity to honor Sarit’s memory by joining a fitness challenge to log 56 miles by February 9 – the length of an annual race in Israel in Sarit’s memory. Learn more here.