Behind the Scenes:
Notes from Museum Director
Rhoda Rosen
Children's Center renderings courtesy of Odile Compagnon.
A Note From Museum Director Rhoda Rosen
Spertus Museum prepares for our November 30 Grand Opening!
September/October 2007
Spertus Museum's provocative new mission is to re-examine Jewish culture in order to celebrate, challenge, and advance modern Jewish identity. We aim to demonstrate the endlessly powerful and reciprocal effect between Jewish and broader culture, inviting people of all ages and backgrounds to explore the multifaceted Jewish experience.
The new facility's top two floors will house our core-collection display, exhibited in a unique visible storage depot that presents over 1,000 objects from Spertus Museum's world-class collection, as well as a site-specific commission by artist Ranbir Kaleka, and a series of changing exhibitions. The interactive Joyce and Avrum Gray and Family Children’s Center, designed with Redmoon Theater artistic director Jim Lasko and designer Odile Compagnon, will be on the 4th floor, along with a dedicated educational resource area for teachers and parents.
Lugwig Schwarz, Untitled (Wiggles #2), 2003.
From the upcoming exhibition The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation.
The inaugural exhibition, The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation, curated by Spertus Museum Senior Curator Staci Boris, includes work by 16 contemporary American artists. On view from November 30, 2007, through April 13, 2008, it serves as a platform for raising important questions about cultural, ethnic, and religious identity in the United States today.
Even before we open the doors of our new facility, seize the opportunity to enjoy special Spertus Museum programming. Our offsite exhibition Sing Forth! Lawndale's Sacred Music highlights the Jewish and African American impact on the North Lawndale community. You can also visit this exhibition by joining our back-by-popular-demand Lawndale bus tour.
Rhoda Rosen
Director, Spertus Museum
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