Four Israeli artists will spend almost two weeks in Tucson this month, giving workshops and talking about their experiences as artists living in Israel.
“This amazing ‘partnership 2gether’ project, sponsored by the Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Federations of North America and our local TIPS (Tucson, Israel, Phoenix, Seattle) committee, helps bring people from Israel and Tucson together,” says Guy Gelbart, director of the Weintraub Israel Center. “It fosters our sense of peoplehood and mutual responsibility by creating real friendships and deeper cultural connections. This human touch, the real faces and real people relationship, is what makes this visit so exciting.”
The artists will work with groups from various organizations, including Tucson Hebrew Academy, Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging and Howenstine Magnet High School. They also will be the special guests at the Israel Center’s “Tu B’Shevat Arty Party” on Thursday, Feb. 9, from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, where they will teach crafts for children.
Vered Otmy, who has lived on Moshav Geha for the last 23 years, specializes in papier-maché. Her works have been displayed in Tel Aviv, London, New York and Chicago and most recently in Belgium and France.
Saraleh Haitman also lives on Moshav Geha and studied art at the Oranim Kibbutz Seminar. She works in ceramics, paint, jewelry and sculpture, and has taught art, communications and film at Israeli schools and colleges.
Yehudit Orinsky, from Moshav Kochav Michael, is originally from Minneapolis. After volunteering on a kibbutz, she made aliyah 40 years ago. Orinsky studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. Her specialty is mosaics. She has taught adults and children and also trains art teachers.
Ada Bouganim, who has lived in Nitzan Aleph for the last 13 years, grew up in Kibbutz Yavne. She has travelled through Asia and Australia and lived for a short while in Los Angeles, where she worked as an interior designer. She now designs events and helps participants design and construct props and decorations.
The Tu B’Shevat Arty Party, cosponsored by Tucson Hebrew Academy, will be held in the JCC’s Heritage Room and Sculpture Garden. Admission is $5 per child under 12. For more information about the artists’ visit, contact. Jennifer Ferrell at 577-9393, ext. 133 or IsraelCen ter@jfsa.org.
