Jewish Arts & Opportunities in March

Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council's Monthly e-Guide
The March 2022 Edition

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Rimon accepts applications semi-annually for its Project Support grants. Close to a quarter of a million dollars have been awarded to 116 projects since 2005. The next application deadline is April 1, 5 p.m. FFI: rimonmn.org or rimon@bfcampus.org

To share your ONLINE events or opportunities through Rimon’s e-guide, send news releases or informative blurbs to rimon@bfcampus.org. Events listed in the e-guide are not sponsored by Rimon, unless indicated. Thank you for your support of Rimon. We can’t do it without you. Donate to Rimon: the Minnesota Jewish Arts Council

EVENTS

Wednesday March 2, 7:30 p.m. Join Six Points Theater for its first New-Play Reading Festival featuring three new plays not yet seen by the public. The first of the onstage online readings is The Book of Vashti by Barbara Field, directed by Jeremy B. Cohen. The play re-tells the Book of Esther through the lens of the banished Queen Vashti. Performances run through March 6. Tickets: https://www.sixpointstheater.org/

Thursday March 3, 6 p.m. The Minnesota JCC’s All Children’s Theater (1375 St Paul Ave, St Paul) presents Seussical the Musical. With a bevy of fanciful plots and characters, this popular musical shows how the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community can be challenged and emerge triumphantly. Additional performances take place on March 5, 6 p.m. and March 6, 1 p.m. Tickets: Minnesotajcc.org

Thursday March 3, 6 p.m. Love dissecting text? Join Gregory (Grisha) Freidin online as he speaks about Isaac Babel’s Red Cavalry: Story, History, and the Hidden Plot. The program is presented as part of the Yiddish Book Center’s 2022 Great Jewish Books Club. FFI: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org

Through March 6. Darius the Dragon and Princess June are best of friends, but there are special challenges at the palace when you have a dragon for a pet. Join them as they explore how they can create the fire they need to be true to themselves in Rabbi Sim Glaser’s new musical The Dragon Who Liked to Spit Fire. The venue is the Sabes JCC (4330 S Cedar Lake Rd, Mpls). Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-dragon-who-liked-to-spit-fire-tickets-223067971307

Sunday, March 6. Transfer of Memory, a touring exhibition of photo portraits and accompanying stories of Minnesota Holocaust survivors, begins a five-week display at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral (519 Oak Grove St, Mpls) through April 14. FFI: http://www.minndakjcrc.org/what-we-do/the-collection/

Wednesday March 9, 7 p.m. The Minnesota JCC Symphony is performing live again at the Capp Center (1375 St. Paul Ave, St Paul). There’s something for everyone: Mozart, Manookian, Vaughan Williams, Anderson and more. Tickets: https://minnesotajcc.org/

Wednesday, March 9, 7:30 p.m. Six Points Theater continues its onstage online readings with The Book of Hours by Jessica Fechtor, directed by Lily Tung Crystal. Described as a meditation on loss, grief, love, and living, the play can be seen through March 13. Tickets: https://www.sixpointstheater.org/

Thursday March 10, 1 p.m. Converse online with Aaron Lansky, Lisa Newman, and Piotr Nazaruk as they celebrate the publication of The Glass Plates of Lublin. The book features selections from the 2,700 glass photographic plates taken between 1913 and 1930 which were discovered in the attic of a 19th century apartment building in the former Jewish section of Lublin, Poland. Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6g5yASX3QQuFdnCiUik7IA

Friday March 11, 7 p.m. The Minnesota Sinfonia presents Alon Goldstein, acclaimed Israeli pianist, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 at the Roseville Lutheran Church (1215 Roselawn Ave W, Roseville). FFI: https://www.mnsinfonia.org

Saturday March 12, 2 p.m. In addition to Mr. Goldstein’s performance, the Minnesota Sinfonia will also present the world premiere of Passage of the Lost by Minnesota composer, Stephen Elsinger at the Basilica of St. Mary (1600 Hennepin Ave, Mpls). FFI: https://www.mnsinfonia.org

Monday March 14, 8:30 a.m. It’s time to join forces to Advocate for Arts Funding. This year’s Arts Advocacy Week (through March 18) is pushing for the passage of a bill that would grant $100 million to arts and cultural groups that were hurt by the pandemic. FFI: http://artsmn.org/act/events/arts-advocacy-day/

Monday March 14, 7:30 p.m. The Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota presents Professor Laura Lieberman’s lecture Memory’s Mirror: Seeing Ourselves in the Book of Esther. Lieberman explores the distinctive features of Esther that have inspired theatrical treatment and how each generation finds ways to see itself in the story of Persia’s Jewish queen. Virtual event: https://umn.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_25hBwB8iQhuXRTH9ich_1A

Tuesday March 15, 6 p.m. In conjunction with a new production at the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, three commentators with a deep engagement with writer Sholoem Asch discuss his extraordinary life and career – and why his plays still matter. Join Why Sholem Asch Matters: A Virtual Roundtable. Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4WASrXeER8GMlNdLYJ5yPA

Wednesday, March 16, 7:30 p.m. Six Points Theater concludes its New-Play Reading Festival with Groupthink by new playwright Mathew Goldstein, directed by Robert Dorfman. This satire on business, politics, and the state of being human can be seen online through March 20. Tickets: https://www.sixpointstheater.org/

Thursday March 17, 6 p.m. Presented as part of the Yiddish Book Center’s 2022 Decade of Discovery, Ellen Cassidy, Jessica Kirzane, and Faith Jones will lead a lively conversation with translators whose work focuses on women writers in Translating Yiddish Women’s Work. Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KmCgvz7lQReasoc60sNxfg

Through March 27. Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts hosts the exhibition From Darkness into Light: Claude Riedel and the Art of the Ner Tamid, a retrospective of artworks by the Minneapolis-based artist who is recognized internationally for crafting exquisite ner tamids. The exhibit can be seen either in-person at Foci (2213 Snelling Ave, Mpls) or online at www.mnglassart.org/exhibition FFI: mnglassart.org

March 27-30. The 2022 Conney Conference on Jewish Arts is happening at the Pyle Center (702 Langdon st, Madison, WI). All events are free and open to the public. FFI: https://conneyproject.wisc.edu/

Wednesday, March 30, 7:30 p.m. Eminent Israeli musicologist Edwin Seroussi speaks at Mount Zion Temple (1300 Summit Ave, St Paul) as part of the U’s Center for Jewish Studies community lecture series. His subject is From Pulpit to Stage: Liturgical Song (Piyyut) as Pop Song. FFI: jwst.umn.edu

Wednesday March 31, 8 p.m. In her first book, Worlds Apart: The Journeys of My Jewish Family in Twentieth-Century Europe, BBC journalist and author Nadia Ragozhina rediscovers the missing part of the family and pieces together the stories hidden for generations. Women in Yiddish is presented as part of the Yiddish Book Center’s 2022 Decade of Discovery. Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2-3g6g74Q9aVdVOZI8OrGw

Thursday March 31. Stream a recorded performance of the New Yiddish Rep's Di Froyen (The Women). Di Froyen tells the story of a woman from the Hasidic community of Brooklyn who has fled an abusive marriage and after being excommunicated and slandered, is being kept from her children. After two years, the women surrounding her unite to defend her and to empower women in their community suffering the same fate. Available through April 3. Virtual: https://support.yiddishbookcenter.org/site/Calendar?id=8541&view=Detail

Sunday, April 3, 2 p.m. The New York-based ensemble ASEFA, led by multi-instrumentalist/scholar Samuel Torjman Thomas, presents a concert drawing on Hebraic and Islamic cultures in North Africa and the Middle East. The performance takes place in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas (2115 Summit Ave, St Paul) at the University of St Thomas as part of its Chapel Arts Series. Free and open to the public. FFI: jrbenda@stthomas.edu

Through April 9. At first glance, Jane Bassuk’s art quilts reference surreal landscapes using shapes derived from the flora and fauna of the living world. In their presence, you are quickly immersed in their heavily embellished, stitched, and collaged surfaces that combine color and pattern to produce compositions rich and tactile in their execution. An exhibit of her work is on view at the Textile Center (3000 University Ave SE, Mpls). FFI: https://textilecentermn.org/jane-bassuk/

Through June 26. The son of Jewish immigrants in Argentina, Mauricio Lasansky (1914–2012) moved to the United States in 1943. His work often explored themes of war and violence. In 1961, coinciding with the televised trial of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, he began The Nazi Drawings to grapple with the Holocaust. These powerful and disturbing drawings are on view at Mia (2400 3rd Ave S, Mpls). FFI: https://new.artsmia.org

Ongoing. Local artist Suzanne Fenton has produced a very engaging film, Hollywood Fringe. Two married, down-on-their-luck actors decide to put on a site-specific play about their unsuccessful life in Hollywood. Their story has finally been green-lit, but not without twists. FFI: https://www.comedydynamics.com/catalog/hollywood-fringe/

Ongoing. Join with other dancers from the Twin Cities and from around the world in a live (on Zoom) Israeli dance session. Led by Shira and Michael Schwartz, the group meets weekly every Sunday from 6-9 PM (CT). The first half-hour is teaching, then circle dancing till 8 pm. 8-9 is partner dancing. What a great way to add needed exercise to our pandemic lives along with the cultural and social connection we are all craving! Even if you don't dance or can't in your current situation, this is a wonderful way to connect to Israeli culture. For the Zoom link, contact michael@konikoff.com

Ongoing. Shira and Michael have also started a live Israeli dance session. Dance every Thursday from 7-9:30 pm at the Tapestry Folk Dance Center (3748 Minnehaha Ave, Mpls). The first hour or so is teaching and easier dances, then circle dancing till the end. Proof of vaccination is required. Cost is $10 members, $12 non-members. FFI: Michael at michael@konikoff.com

OPPORTUNITIES

Theater J has launched a new commissioning program called Expanding the Canon. The program will commission seven playwrights who are Jews of Color, Multi-Racial / Multi-Ethnic Jews, and Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews to write seven new plays that thematically and visually center diverse Jewish narratives. Each commissioned playwright will receive a $10,000 commission, as well as a $5,000 developmental budget for their play. Playwrights throughout North America are eligible. Theater J is accepting applications to join the cohort which will kick off in July or August of 2022 and culminate in December 2024. The deadline for submissions is March 15. FFI: https://theaterj.org/expandingthecanon/

A request for submissions is now open for the second annual J-Pride Zine: Out from the Narrow Place, Into the Wilderness (Volume 2). Share with JPride your art, your poetry, your stories, your Torah. Themes may include gender, LGBTQ+ identity, Passover, bondage, and liberation. Submissions are due at noon on March 16. Send submissions to Isaac at ijennings@jfcsmpls.org

Sh’mita Study Group: Reflection + Letterpress VIRTUAL + IN PERSON with Meryll Page, Robyn Awend, and visiting presenters. Wednesdays: March 23, May 4, June 1; 6–8 pm CT VIRTUAL + Sunday, June 12; 1–4 pm IN PERSON. In this three-part study group, participants will explore Sh'mita, the year of release, which occurs every seven years in the Jewish calendar. During the Sh'mita year, debts are forgiven, agricultural lands lie fallow, and food that grows wild is shared. We will discuss how the concept of Sh’mita speaks to the tension between release and revival in today's world, and we will uncover how we can apply these teachings to both the natural world and our own creative spirit. No prior knowledge is necessary, just a curiosity to explore this ancient tradition. The virtual discussion, led by Meryll Page, will culminate in an in-person letterpress workshop on June 12th utilizing MCBA's new Hebrew wood type. Register: https://www.mnbookarts.org/shmita-study-group-reflection-and-letterpress/

The McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers annually awards three $25,000 fellowships to Minnesota choreographers and three $25,000 fellowships to Minnesota dancers. The program supports fellows through additional career and artistic development, including solo commissions, a fellows’ retreat, and other programs. The application website is now open and accepting submissions. The deadline to apply for a fellowship is March 30. Please plan to submit your application early. FFI: http://www.mcknightdancechoreo.org/

Are you an enthusiastic choral singer? Join hundreds of singers and lovers of Jewish music for five days of workshops, community sings, concerts, and more at the 33rd Annual Zamir North American Jewish Choral Festival. Under the direction of conductor Matthew Lazar, the festival is being held in-person at the Hilton Hotel (1 First Stamford Place, Stramford, CT) July 10-14. FFI: https://zamirchoralfoundation.formstack.com/forms/najcf_2022

Giving Voice Chorus brings together people with dementia and Alzheimer’s and their care partners to sing in choruses that foster joy, well-being, purpose, and community understanding. Giving Voice Chorus transforms lives through music by building choral music communities worldwide that celebrate the potential of people living with dementia. Rehearsals: Mondays | 1 – 2:15 PM | February 7–May 18 (no rehearsal on 4/18). FFI: https://anc.apm.activecommunities.com/macphail/activity/search/detail/17296

The Minnesota State Arts Board will open two funding opportunities for its fiscal year 2023 grant cycle (July 2022 – June 2023). The coronavirus pandemic continues to create extreme uncertainty for Minnesota’s arts and cultural sector and continues to create economic hardships for creative individuals and organizations. Flexibility continues to be vital. To provide that flexibility, the Arts Board will offer its Creative Support for Individuals and Creative Support for Organizations grant programs for another year. FY 2023 Creative Support grant application deadlines, grant guidelines, and application materials will be posted on the Arts Board website in March. Creative Support grants are flexible. Grantees are able to determine how best to use funds to adapt their activities to stay relevant and connected to audiences, participants, students, or communities; sustain their creative practices, and maintain the long-term viability of their arts programming so that Minnesota residents and communities will continue to have access and connection to the arts. FFI: http://www.arts.state.mn.us/

Opportunities to connect with Art-Train. Artists and local government leaders from around the country are taking Art-Train! In just three hours Springboard for the Arts trains local government leaders, organizational workers, and artists to work together on accessing flexible dollars from the American Rescue Plan to meet recovery goals and build back better. Art-Train covers: how local artists can address community challenges and recovery priorities; customizable program models, toolkits, and examples from other communities; strategies to increase equity and lower barriers to collaboration; insight into ARP funding and uses; and access to an expanding national cohort of practitioners and artists. The program shows how artists of all backgrounds and disciplines are a key ingredient of resilient infrastructure, just as much as bridges and light rail. Art-Train includes the training and additional technical assistance through a resource library and ongoing biweekly group coaching sessions. FFI: https://springboardforthearts.org/art-train/

Workshop Opportunities at Springboard are ongoing – and accessible from anywhere! Workshops this month include Work of Art: Marketing; Pricing; Record-keeping; Portfolio Kit; Promotions; Legal Considerations; and more. FFI: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/

YALA’s Mini-Grant applications are open! Do you have an idea for a Jewish program? Are you looking for guidance and support with getting a new project off the ground? Do you want to start something special, but just don’t have the resources? The YALA Mini-Grant program supports new Jewish ideas and helps you incubate your project, with financial resources, promotion, and other support as needed. FFI: https://jewishtwincities.org/yalagrant/

RESOURCES

Check out Rimon’s new MN Jewish Artists Directory. This wide-ranging database is an invaluable tool for artists and audiences alike. View the profiles or create your own at https://mnjewishartists.org/

Temple Talks Podcast, a new podcast from Temple Israel in Minneapolis, showcases Jewish wisdom in our ever-changing world. Listen in while partners and thought leaders from around town and around the world inspire you, challenge you, and give you new ideas about Judaism, religious life, social justice, and more. In the most recent podcast, Rabbi Moss talks with David Harris about David’s artistic path and pioneering work as the founding director of Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council. They also discuss the vital role that the arts play in the Jewish community and how Rimon helps Jewish artists find resources, audiences, and inspiration. Listen to #17: The Artsiest Pomegranate (David Harris & Rabbi Tobias Moss) at https://www.templetalks.org/

Claude Riedel has published a book, From Darkness into Light: Claude Riedel and the Art of the Ner Tamid. Learn how Claude weaves ancient traditions of the ner tamid into his deeply personal and expressive creations. Learn about themes from the Seven Species to the Burning Bush and Wings of Angels in this visually stunning, educational book. Equal parts artist monograph and Judaic art history. Available in both standard and lay flat editions. Buyers can opt to have the book shipped or can pick theirs up from Claude. Claude Riedel Ner Tamid Book (square.site)

And there’s another new book: The Choreography of Care / Engaging Caregivers in Creative Expression, written by Stuart Pimsler. The book highlights the work that Suzanne and Stuart have been doing in the field of Arts & Health for the past three decades. “In this captivating memoir, Stuart Pimsler demonstrates his prowess as a compelling interdisciplinary maker - weaving autobiography, insight, and meaning on the page as he has on the stage for four decades.” Jill Sonke, Director, Center for the Arts in Medicine, University of Florida. FFI: choreographyofcare.com

Jane Yolen, author of the poetry volume Kaddish: Before the Holocaust and After (Holy Cow! Press), has been awarded the Sophie Brody Medal for 2022. The Sophie Brody Award is an annual award of the American Library Association. It is given for outstanding achievement in Jewish literature, for works published the previous year, in the US. FFI: https://www.janeyolen.com/kaddish-before-the-holocaust-and-after/

Shayna, a novel by Miriam Ruth Black set in Ukraine 1919, is a compelling tale of a young woman’s journey across Europe to New York City’s Lower East Side in order to build a new life in a new country. Purchase the book at kirkhousepublishers.com

Two books by local Jewish authors received awards from the Foreward magazine in its Indie Books category of Autobiography & Memoir. Jeffrey Zuckerman’s Unglued: A Bipolar Love Story received a Silver award. Lucy Rose Fischer’s The Journalist received an Honorable Mention. You can learn more about and purchase these books at www.jeffzuckerman.com and www.lucyrosedesigns.com

Composer/performer Eddie Estrin shares a new video with you. It features some talented folks he played with for a run of shows during the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Check out the new project: www.EddieEstrin.com/video

Check out the A.V. Closet. The A.V. Closet is a Springboard for the Arts service that allows artists to borrow cameras, lighting equipment, projectors and other audio-visual equipment, and it's back on University Avenue! Starting July 16, 2021, the A.V. Closet is open again for pickup and drop-off hours at our offices at 262 University Avenue W., St. Paul, Minnesota 55103. Equipment can be borrowed for one week (six overnights from Friday to the following Friday) at no charge, for one rental period per month. You can check out up to six items per rental period. If you need to check out more than six items, contact us to make special arrangements. There is an annual fee of $20. Check out the listings of DSLR cameras, light kits, video projectors and screens, tripods, digital recorders, and more! FFI: https://springboardforthearts.org/professional-growth/avcloset/

Looking for your next work opportunity? Springboard's Job Board is a hub for arts and artist-friendly jobs in the Upper Midwest! Search by location, type of role, and timing, including Work From Home options, open calls, paid internships, and more. Salary transparency is required on our Job Board, part of an effort with Pollen Midwest and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits for a more equitable and transparent hiring process.https://springboardforthearts.org/jobs/

Free Artist Career Consultations for Hennepin County residents until March 31! Thirty leading artists from around Minnesota are ready to work with you on your creative plan: virtual one-on-one support navigating these difficult times. Choose your own consultant by discipline or expertise, or let Springboard for the Arts match you. With expertise across disciplines, cultures, and practices, these working artists can offer support with: 1) career planning; 2) website development and web presence; 3) legal and financial planning; and 4) grant-writing & fund development. Consultations are available on a sliding scale. FFI: https://springboardforthearts.org/professional-growth/career-consultations/artist-career-consultants/

Learn about and support Jews of color. Some of the many national organizations include the Jewish Multiracial Network, Jews of Color Field Building Initiative, Jews in ALL Hues, Be’chol Lashon, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.

The Jews of Color Initiative has commissioned a major research study to understand the lived experiences and perspectives of Jews of Color nationwide. A multiracial research team based at Stanford University has created a thoughtful survey, and the Jews of Color Initiative wants 1,000 Jews of Color to participate! The Count Me In survey is an opportunity for Jews of Color to share how they think about Jewish identity, how systemic racism has shaped their experiences, and how they want the Jewish community to better reflect the diversity of Jews in the U.S. If you identify as a Jew of Color, go to JoCsurvey.org to take the 15-minute survey and have your voice heard!