American Jewish Museum

American Jewish Museum

Fine, Perlow, and Weis Gallery, American Jewish Museum
Location within Pittsburgh
Established	1998
Location	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	40°26′16″N 79°55′26″W / 40.437701°N 79.923947°WCoordinates: 40°26′16″N 79°55′26″W / 40.437701°N 79.923947°W
Type	Art museum
Website	www.jccpgh.org/page/ajm

The American Jewish Museum, or AJM, is a contemporary Jewish art museum located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A department of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Pittsburgh, the museum is located in the Squirrel Hill JCC at the corner Forbes Avenue and Murray Avenue, in the heart of Pittsburgh's historically Jewish neighborhood. The museum was founded in 1998, and though it does not have a permanent collection, it hosts several original and traveling exhibitions each year. The AJM aims to explore contemporary Jewish issues through art and related programs that facilitate intercultural dialogue.^[1]

History

Prior to 1998, the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh had a small community gallery for nearly 25 years. Under the auspices of Leslie A. Golomb, the gallery underwent a period of substantial growth, evolving into a museum and receiving accreditation from the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM).^[2] Accreditation by CAJM requires strict adherence to standards regarding archives, catalogues, and curating, as well as educational programs and outreach.

Today, the AJM galleries are still located on the Pittsburgh JCC's Squirrel Hill campus. While the AJM continues to emphasize the Pittsburgh community in its exhibitions and programming, its scope has grown as it collaborates with regional, national, and international artists and organizations. Additionally, the AJM frequently explores Jewish themes such as contemporary iterations of rituals, but aims to reach the wider community though exhibits with broad appeal and programming that encourages interfaith discourse.

Recent Exhibitions

As a non-collecting museum, the AJM works with local, national, and international artists to create original exhibitions,^[3] and occasionally hosts traveling exhibitions from institutions such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.^[4] Here is a list of recent, notable exhibitions:

• 2010: Between Heaven and Earth.^[5] Ilene Winn Lederer^[6]
• 2010: To Speak Her Heart.^[7] Leslie A. Golomb and Barbara Broff Goldman^[8]
• 2010: India: A Light Within. Charlee Brodsky^[9]
• 2010: I Thought I Could Fly.^[10] Charlee Brodsky^[11]
• 2009: Tempted, Misled, Slaughtered: The Short Life of Hitler Youth, Paul B. Presented through the Florida Holocaust Museum^[12]
• 2009: Body of Work: Philip Mendlow^[13]
• 2008-2009: Love/Fences/Nests. Ally Reeves,^[14][15] Ben Schacter,^[16] Anna Divinsky^[17]
• 2007-2008: Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals. Presented through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum^[18]
• 2007: Of the Painted Image.^[19] Miriam Cabessa, Seth Cohen, Peter Rostovsky
• 2007: If My Eyes Speak. Adam Nadel^[20]
• 2006: Body in Diaspora. Maritza Mosquera^[21]
• 2006: 118-60 Metropolitan Avenue. Joan Linder^[22]
• 2004-2005: The Mikvah Project.^[23] Janice Rubin and Leah Lax^[24]
• 2004: QuilkLinks. Louise Silk and Pittsburgh teens^[25]
• 2003: From Home to Home: Jewish Immigration to America.^[26] Presented through the Children's Galleries for Jewish Culture (formerly the Jewish Children's Learning Lab)^[27]
• 2001: Encountering the Second Commandment. International group exhibition of 43 artists from eight countries^[28]

References

1. American Jewish Museum of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. "About" Retrieved 2010-06-22.
2. Leslie A. Golomb, Resume. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
3. University of Pittsburgh Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. "Jewish Community at the University of Pittsburgh." Retrieved 2010-06-22.
4. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "Traveling Exhibitions-Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings." Retrieved 2010-06-22.
5. Ilene Winn Lederer, Between Heaven and Earth: An Illustrated Torah Commentary. (San Francisco: Pomegranate, 2009).
6. Kurt Shaw, "Squirrel Hill exhibit shows prayers, poems of Jewish women in the Diaspora and Israel." Pittsburgh Tribune Review. 2010-5-26. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
7. Leslie A. Golomb and Barbara Broff Goldman, To Speak Her Heart: An Illustrated Anthology of Jewish Women's Prayers and Poems (Pittsburgh: Rodef Shalom Temple, 2008).
8. Kurt Shaw, "Squirrel Hill exhibit shows prayers, poems of Jewish women in the Diaspora and Israel." Pittsburgh Tribune Review. 2010-5-26. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
9. Sarah Bauknecht, "Charlee Brodsky's images, words, movements combine to shine light on India." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2010-1-27. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
10. Charlee Brodsky, I Thought I Could Fly: Portraits of Anger, Compulsion, and Despair. (New York: Bellevue Literary Press, 2008).
11. Carnegie Mellon School of Design. "Prof Charlee Brodsky's works exhibited at the American Jewish Museum." Retrieved 2010-06-22.
12. Lucy Leitner, "An exhibit documents the making of Hitler Youth." Pittsburgh City Paper. 2009-12-17. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
13. Eric Lidji, "JCC exhibits representative work of a forgotten Pittsburgh artist." Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
14. Kurt Shaw, "Artist draws on others' experiences in love." Pittsburgh Tribune Review. 2008-12-4. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
15. Mary Thomas, "Young Pittsburghers to watch in 2009." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
16. Joshua J. Friedman, "String Theory." Tablet Magazine. 2010-05-14. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
17. Mike Zoller, "Immigration Examined: JCC art exhibit concludes with Nests." Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
18. "Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals." OnQ OnDemand Retrieved 2010-06-22.
19. American Jewish Museum of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. ArtWorks, Fall 2007: p4.
20. Mary Thomas, "Art Notes: Photo exhibition brings tragedy of Darfur into sharp focus." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
21. Monica Haynes, "Art Preview: Art project traces what drew refugees to Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
22. Mary Thomas, "Linder's renderings of relatives depict universal relationships." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2006-07-05. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
23. Janice Rubin and Leah Lax, The Mikvah Project. (Houston: Jewish Community Center of Houston, 2001).
24. Mary Thomas, "Mikvah Project opens at Jewish Community Center." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2004-02-05. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
25. QuiltLinks/Public Art Pittsburgh, project catalogue. (Pittsburgh: American Jewish Museum, 2004).
26. Children's Galleries for Jewish Culture. "Traveling Exhibitions-From Home to Home." Retrieved 2010-06-23.
27. Children's Galleries for Jewish Culture. "Our History." Retrieved 2010-06-23.
28. Encountering the Second Commandment, exhibition catalogue. (Pittsburgh: American Jewish Museum, 2001).

External links

• The American Jewish Museum of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
• The Council of American Jewish Museums