Artists Paint Jewish Murals Across North America

On the heels of the first ever Jewish Street Art Festival in 2019 in Jerusalem, leading Jewish street artists from around North America are bringing public art to their communities. The 2020 Jewish Street Art Festival (jewishstreetart.com) has been reimagined as a decentralized art event in which nine Jewish artists will each be creating a public art piece in their own city. Each artist or artist team will be painting a Chanukah menorah, linking the eight participating cities through art. Participating cities include Washington, DC, New York City, Charlotte, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Detroit.

Some of the artists will also be calling on local Jewish and civic leaders and other artists to “light” the menorah murals each night by painting in a flame. With the closures and cancellations of Jewish and arts programming because of COVID-19, this project will allow artists to engage their local communities.

Three years ago artist Rabbi Yitzchok Moully (New Jersey / New York) began a yearly tradition of creating a large interactive Chanukah mural in the NY/NJ area. This year Moully reached out to artist Hillel Smith (Washington, DC), to bring his annual mural to a wider audience. the Festival features artists renowned for work that deals with Jewish themes and work inspired by their urban landscapes. These artists come from diverse backgrounds: Ashkenazi and Mizrachi, secular and religious, and from around North America. Their varied perspectives exemplify the richness of the Jewish world and create a platform for a broader conversation about Jewish art and identity.

Street art has become enormously popular in recent years, increasingly embraced by the art world and tourists alike. As street art is often used by artists to express their identities, Jewish artists have found a perfect outlet in murals and other public art. The Festival aims to highlight this development on the world stage and create conversations about Jewish presence in our cities.

The first Jewish Street Art Festival, an unprecedented gathering of Jewish muralists, took place last year in October and November during the 2019 Jerusalem Biennale, Jerusalem’s preeminent contemporary art event. Ten new artworks were completed at the First Station (HaTachana Rishona), seven more at Hutzot Hayotzer, the Artists’ Colony, and a two-story collaborative mural at the Schechter Institute, for a total of eighteen murals.

The Festival is supported by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation’s Grassroots Events program.

Says curator Hillel Smith, “Street art has the power to inspire new kinds of Jewish engagement while beautifying our spaces, and we hope to build a model that can spark conversations about Judaism and art for years to come.”

New York City Mural
Rabbi and artist Yitzchok Moully will be creating a large interactive mural on the corner of Classon Ave and Myrtle Ave in the vibrant Clinton hill community in Brooklyn, a one minute walk from the Pratt Institute campus. The mural is in partnership with Hadas Gallery + Synagogue, a local Jewish community center open to students from Pratt and the local community, led by Rabbi Yossi and Chaya Eliav.

Moully’s mural will feature members of the local Jewish community each holding up a candle thereby making up the branches of the Menorah. Eight diverse community members as well as Rabbi Simcha the center’s founder will be depicted larger than life in the 30 foot wall.

Each night of Chanukah local artists and community members will light/paint a new flame on the menorah. The public is invited to make their mark and add their light on the mural following the call to action #ShareYourLight by adding a positive message to the wall. Bright markers will be available at the wall for everyone to come share their positive messages and light to the wall. The mural will be going up Tuesday and Wednesday, December 8-9.

For information on the nightly lighting/painting please contact Rabbi Yossi Eliav at 646-860-9165

The artists include:

• Hillel Smith, now located in Washington, DC, was inspired to create Jewish-themed murals by comic books, typography, and the ethnic community-based murals in his native Los Angeles. His mural will be painted at the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, DC, on Monday and Tuesday, December 7-8, and will include participation of the JCC’s preschoolers and staff.
• Yitzchok Moully is an Australian-American Chabad rabbi based in New Jersey and is known for his “Chasidic Pop Art” painting style. His mural will be painted in Brooklyn at Classon Ave and Myrtle Ave on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 8-9. Flames on his menorah will be painted each night of Chanukah by local artists, in partnership with Hadas Gallery & Synagogue and Chabad of Pratt Institute.
• Mike Wirth is a street artist, graphic designer, and an associate professor of art based in Charlotte, North Carolina. His mural is already in progress at Queens University of Charlotte Hillel, to be completed on Wednesday, December 9. It will feature community candle lightings each night by the Jewish Federation, rabbis from Chabad and Charlotte’s Conservative and Reform synagogues, and the interfaith council at Queens, with the university president lighting the final night.
• Bareket Kezwer was born in Jerusalem and raised in Toronto, where she fills the streets with bright colors. Her mural is in progress at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre in downtown Toronto, set to be completed on December 6.
• Los Angeles native Shlome J. Hayun blends lush colors, abstract design, music, and Middle Eastern symbols in his work. Joined by Sheina Dorn, one of the very few female Orthodox muralists, they will be painting on the side of the Mamilla restaurant in the heart of the “kosher corridor” in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood on Wednesday, December 9.
• Adam Podber is a full-time artist and muralist operating out of Southwest Atlanta. He will be painting at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta beginning on Monday, December 7, who are planning a week of events.
• Anshie Kagan, based in Chicago, creates ironic and often tongue-in-cheek artwork covering a variety of motifs and themes, is influenced by the Pop Art movement of the 1950s. His mural will be installed opposite the Division subway station on Wednesday, December 9. Chabad will be organizing daily candle lightings.
• Rachel Gluski will be painting at the Downtown Synagogue in Detroit, time TBD.