The Holyoaks in the Holy Land: Young Artist's Exhibit & Young Gifted Musicians

For the past few months, we have been working towards the opening of a new art exhibit at the JC. The course of events leading to this exhibition was extremely rewarding. Two art teachers (one Palestinian and one Israeli) teach classes for young artists and they, along with many others here at the center, have worked ceaselessly to make the exhibition become a reality.

Photo below: Sharon, art teacher. Sharon received her B.A. from the Art Faculty at Tel Aviv University. Her main disciplines were fine art, music, cinema and Asian cross-cultural studies. As a student, she worked in the training department of "Anima Studios – The Center of Animation Studies" in Tel Aviv. With the guidance of the animator Dudu Shalita, she developed an annual educational program in animation for children and youth. The program was taught throughout the country within the framework of the Ministry of Education and as part of informal education.

Above photo: Thraa, art teacher. I have come to admire both of these art teachers. Twelve years ago, Thraa organized a group of artists: Jews, Muslim, Christians and Druze. Annually they volunteer their time and artistic abilities to direct activities for critically ill children, orphans and abused women in hospitals and institutions throughout the country and continually reaches out to the less fortunate. She collects donations of money for food and clothing for lonely, elderly people and for battered women and during the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, they all celebrate together. Through the years, Thraa has exhibited in Israel, Australia, England and in the USA and has been teaching classes in fine arts since 2006. Thraa is highly respected and is a great inspiration for the many lives she has touched.

The students were as involved and as diligent as their teachers. At first it seemed quite an implausible idea, to try to bring two diverse backgrounds, two localities, two languages, and two age groups to join forces. However, from the very first meeting held at the JC, an instant bond was made, friendships were developed and a cohesive group was formed. Countless emails were exchanged back and forth sharing knowledge, ideas, questions, photos and new paintings.

Once we had met the teachers and art students, everyone began working to send us their very best art work. Before we knew it we had almost 200 paintings which had to be previewed and then the most difficult task of deciding which ones to use in the exhibit.

There are a total of 18 participants in the exhibition, ranging in ages form 12 to 19.

The students worked tirelessly and spent hours helping in the preparation of this most successful exhibition.

One of our workers who did the painting had been fasting for ramadan but nevertheless was always there to help wherever needed. We love this young man and we watched his body shrink as he was fasting during ramadan. He always has a smile on his face and dedicated to his work at the JC. The LRC, the location where the art is displayed, was completely repainted and the painters worked very hard to finish so the new art could be displayed.

Finally the painting was finished and then the process of hanging the art work. We were all very excited to invite the young artists and their families to the opening of the exhibit so they were the first to enter the hall. They were thrilled to see their art work and one was overheard to say, "I am so excited I can't breathe." It was so rewarding to stand back, watch, and listen. The exhibit was open before the Young Musician Concert.

You could see the excitement on the faces of the art students as they anticipated finding their art work on display.

Considering the age of the students, the art work was amazing! There were 150 paintings on display but I am posting only a few.

Photo: This art student was proud to have his father accompany him.

Photo: This young artist admires his art work on the wall.

After a very exciting viewing, the students were off to attend the Young Gift Musician's Concert in the auditorium. We reserved one row for them to all sit together because they were each introduced to a nearly full house. Neomi introduced the each of the students and spoke first in English and then in Hebrew. She apologized she was not able to speak in Arabic.

The concert started at 8 PM and for the next hour and 15 minutes we enjoyed a fabulous concert by some very gifted teenagers. A total of 7 young musicians performed on piano, violin, clarinet, and cello. They were wonderful and each studies at various music conservatories in Israel.

Photo: This young man was only 12 and performed Rondo Capriccioso by Mendelssohn, a solo I performed at the same age. As I sat and listened, I was silently playing along with him and it took me back many years when I was also seriously studying piano. He also played Chopin's Minute Waltz, a solo I learned at age 9. I snapped this photo while he was warming up before the concert began.