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<\/a>\u201cThe next steps were to call out to the congregation to see who would like to participate. At this time, all meetings were held on Zoom due to COVID. Once the committee had the members, we then went out to the congregation \u2013 we wanted the entire membership to feel included, to see what they wanted to see in the garage. The overwhelming feedback was the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volunteers were assigned a holiday and the committee helped with each image. \u201cThis is when the real work began,\u201d said Schwartzman. \u201cBut, up to this point between COVID and summer holidays, it was two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Peter Sarganis, an amazing artist himself but also an art teacher, he guided us on the steps required to take our wonderful images through the multiple steps to get each image on the boards. Once the boards were ready to go, we met each Sunday afternoon for painting for several months. There were committed painters who would come in during the week to work as well. This was a labour of love! The energy in the room when we were painting was fabulous. Focused artists and painters working together to bring these works to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarganis answered the callout to members because, he said, \u201cAs an artist, I thought it would be a creative way to combine my love of Judaism, the Beth Israel Synagogue, collaboration and painting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarganis became the project\u2019s art director and a lead artist and designer of one of the two Shabbat works.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Shabbat. From Friday evening family dinners; to Shabbat morning services; to the candles, wine, challah and artifacts used \u2013 I can simply say I love it,\u201d Sarganis said of his choice of holiday to portray. \u201cThe Shabbat panel I designed and painted is an abstracted representation of our family\u2019s candle holders, Kiddush cup and challah cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
About the project, he said, \u201cWe had a wide range of expertise, from those who don\u2019t paint at all to those who paint a lot. The common thread that kept us going and made this a beautiful group to be a part of was everyone\u2019s passion for the project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs a professional artist and someone who has taught at a fine arts school for the past 29 years, it seemed the role of me becoming art director happened organically, it was not something that was there at the start of the project,\u201d he added. \u201cThis included helping the designers of the panels with their designs, bringing in tools and equipment to help facilitate the transferring of the designs onto the large panels, advising the groups of painters on the painting process and\/or techniques, figuring out (with Reisa) the placement of the panels in the parkade.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI really believe that we can beautify the most simple areas to make them more impactful,\u201d said Schwartzman. \u201cHaving these windows in the garage makes the experience of going to the BI start right from parking your car. But we didn\u2019t stop there. Krystine McInnes came up with the idea that we should add QR codes to each image so that people could open their phones and learn more about each holiday, the customs and history. We hope we can use these to fight antisemitism as well, or just to help educate. We decided to paint on boards rather than the wall itself so, if needed, we could have them traveling.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing different about our art is that none of the pieces are signed. This was with the commitment that the works were collective, designed and inspired by several artists and painted by the community we built. It is a community effort for our shul.\u201d<\/p>\n While the lead artists aren\u2019t indicated on the murals in the garage, they are credited on the project\u2019s website, bethisraelartproject.com<\/a>: Beryl Israel (Purim and Tu b\u2019Shevat), Sheila Romalis (Hanukkah), Ramona Josephson (Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot and Shabbat), Debby Koffman (Simchat Torah), Janice Masur (Shavuot), Luca Carati (Yom Hashoah and Yom Yerushalayim), Nassa Selwyn (Pesach and Yom Kippur) and Adele Lewin (Simchat Torah). In addition to the QR code integration, McInnes designed the project website, which features information on the holidays, their history and customs from several sources, including work done by Jean Gerber and Jonathan Berkowitz and a dozen or\u00a0<\/span>so websites.<\/p>\n The paint was donated by Benjamin Moore Paint and the boards and framing by Burton Mouldings, said Esther Moses, Beth Israel executive director. Ralph (z\u2019l) and Elaine Schwartzman donated to help make the project possible, she said.<\/p>\n