Art Archives - The 91Ӱ�� School

An Evening of the Arts

Yaelle — Tue, 24 May 2022 19:36:46 +0000

At Yeshivat 91Ӱ��’s annual Evening of the Arts last week, students in the school’s art, music and creative writing tracks, electives and clubs got to showcase their incredible work. The evening included performances by the Cougar Chorus, Jazz Band and Performance Ensemble, followed by a gallery walk of all the incredible fine arts creations from across the school. Thank you to the 91Ӱ�� faculty for providing 91Ӱ�� students with such an outstanding fine arts and music education, and nurturing their creativity and skill: Visual Arts Director Ahuva Winslow, Choral Studies Director Randi Wartelsky, Music Program Director Steve Bill, art faculty member Mira Levy, music faculty member Ethan Bill and creative writing track instructor Dr. Elizabeth Rees.

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A Virtual Evening of the Arts

Yaelle — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 14:41:33 +0000

Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� held its annual Evening of the Arts last Wednesday virtually, highlighting the incredible achievements of the school’s art and music students during a year of great challenges.

The program began with opening remarks by Cougar Chorus Co-Presidents Ariella Burnstein and Eiden Weinberg, both juniors, who introduced the audience to what it was like doing music at 91Ӱ�� during the pandemic. “This year has been very challenging for our choir, but we have made the most of it,” said Burnstein. “Choir has been meeting weekly in person, outdoors and masked, and during the colder months on Zoom, working hard to bring meaningful music to the 91Ӱ�� community.”

Next, the program featured stunning musical performances in both English and Hebrew by the 91Ӱ�� Cougar Chorus and Performance Ensemble, showcasing the students’ musical talents as well as their outstanding coordination and professionalism.

“Because we were limited in our live performances this year, we utilized the amazing recording studio here at 91Ӱ�� to record and produce many of our own arrangements,” explained Weinberg. Indeed, these recordings became a highlight of virtual 91Ӱ�� events over the course of the year.

The co-presidents also expressed their gratitude toward Cougar Chorus Director Randi Wartelsky, who has worked tirelessly to ensure that the choir would not only continue to exist, but to grow and thrive despite COVID. “Mrs. Wartelsky, you continuously amaze us with your musical expertise and have helped us so much throughout the year,” said Burnstein.

Following the “evening of song” portion of the program, the audience heard reflections by seniors in 91Ӱ��’s Art Track. After four years in 91Ӱ��’s art program, this year’s cohort is moving on, with each student boasting a tremendous portfolio of work to show from their time at 91Ӱ��.

The students stressed the significance of having spent four years together in the art room. “I think it’s a very unique experience to be in the same Art Track with the same people and the same teachers for four years, and I think it’s very special because you get to develop relationships with everybody and they know where you’re at with your skills,” said Eden Lippe. “That actually contributed a lot to me growing as an artist.”

Kayla Mantell agreed. “Just from looking at everyone’s work you learn a lot from your peers,” she said.

Cherished friendships were also formed. “To be surrounded by the kind of artists that I have for four years, both students and teachers, has been incredible,” said Daniel Morrison. “I’ve grown and seen other people grow. And the amount of really close friends that I’ve made in the Art Track has made my life so much better and has been an amazing experience.”

Erin Helfer credited 91Ӱ��’s Arts Program Director Ahuva Winslow and art teacher Mira Levy for helping her find her passion. “I think it’s really special that we were all able to find a common ground in our love for art,” said Helfer. “I am literally obsessed with painting and I never knew I could do anything that I have done in the past four years before coming to 91Ӱ��.”

At the end of the Evening of the Arts program, the 91Ӱ�� Art Gallery 2021 website went live at www.frisch.org/artgallery. The online exhibit reflects the breadth and depth of the work completed this year by 91Ӱ�� art students in ninth through 12th grade.

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Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� Art Students Reflect on Anti-Semitism Through Abstract Art

Yaelle — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 22:03:30 +0000

Students in Yeshivat 91Ӱ��’s 12th grade mixed media elective and 12th grade honors art recently created abstract works reflecting the students’ thoughts and feelings about anti-Semitism over the past year. To introduce them to the complexities of abstract art, they had the opportunity to hear from Argentinian-Israeli artist Laura Murlender, who, at age 19, as a result of her Zionist affiliations, was abducted and tortured by Argentinian forces for 11 days, while the country was under military rule in the 1970s. (During this time, 30 thousand people disappeared.) After Murlender’s release, she moved to Israel, where she utilized art as part of her healing process and attended Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Murlender spoke about her life as well as went into depth about her work, giving the students a new perspective about abstract art.

“The talented speaker challenged us to look beyond our current understanding of art,” said 12th grade honors art student Naomi Mosbacher. “She taught us how to portray emotion and feelings, using our knowledge of the principles of design.”

91Ӱ�� Visual Arts Program Director Ahuva Winslow noted that although the students’ work could have focused entirely on the bloody, grim nature of recent anti-Semitic events, all the students included hopeful elements within their works—something that was entirely their choice and not influenced by her instruction. “There is something positive in every piece which was their natural reaction to what they were expressing, which is so beautiful,” said Winslow. “I don’t think it’s a naive thing. They understand in such a sophisticated way that with all the terrible things going on there is some overarching reason or force, and they express it so naturally.”

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91Ӱ�� Students Win New Jersey Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

Yaelle — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 16:17:58 +0000

Four 91Ӱ�� students have won recognition in the 2020 New Jersey Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for their literary and artistic creations. Their pieces, nuanced and poignant, explore the human condition from both a general and Jewish point of view. Mia Hahn ’21 won an honorable mention for her short story, “The Old Man’s Heart.” Rochel Leah Itzkowitz ’21 received a silver key award for her short story, “History Always Repeats Itself.” Hahn and Itzkowitz are also editors of Kalliope, 91Ӱ��’s literary arts magazine.

Meanwhile, Molly Lopkin ’20 won two silver keys and two honorable mentions for four of her poetry pieces, including one titled “Exodus 32:6, 2019” which was inspired by Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Taken” and the story of the golden calf and is about resisting peer pressure. In the art category, Hannah Finkelshteyn ’20 won a gold key for a work titled “Anxious.” The piece will be displayed alongside the other gold key winning art at the Montclair Art Museum from February 15 to March 22.

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Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� Art Students Take Unique Field Trips

Yaelle — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 16:02:25 +0000

Senior art students at Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� recently had the opportunity to take two out-of-the-ordinary field trips along with their teacher, Visual Arts Director Ahuva Winslow. Students in the school’s mixed media senior elective and 12th grade honors art classes visited the studio of mixed media artist Holly Rader and glass artist Stephanie Baness. The two professional artists spoke to the students about their work, educational background, process and how they each create their art. Baness also explained how glass fusion works, and different techniques that the 91Ӱ�� mixed media students can use when they start making their own glass works in just a few weeks.

Meanwhile, students in 91Ӱ��’s 12th grade Arts Track went on a surprise trip to IKEA, where they experimented with generating unique and interesting compositions using a variety of fabrics, props and beautiful settings. The trip served as preparation for their next painting assignment, which will be in the style of French artist Henri Matisse!

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91Ӱ�� Students Explore the Meaning of a Machzor Verse

Yaelle — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 14:13:23 +0000

In preparation for the Yamim Noraim, 91Ӱ�� sophomores in Rabbi Gedaliah Jaffe’s classes visited the 91Ӱ�� art studio. There, they got to explore the meaning of a verse in one of the most evocative piyyutim in the high holidays liturgy: “Ka-chomer be’yad ha-Yotzer,” a metaphor describing Am Israel to Hashem as being “like clay in the hands of the potter.” The metaphor’s original location in Yirmiyahu (18:6). 91Ӱ��’s Visual Arts Director Ahuva Winslow guided the students as they molded and created their own pottery, noting how the clay could be formed at will yet also pushed back against their hands. Thus, the hands-on lesson brought the pasuk to life for the students.

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91Ӱ�� Hosts Evening of the Arts, Celebrating First Graduating Arts Track Class

Yaelle — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 18:22:26 +0000

On Monday, March 19, Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� hosted its second annual Evening of the Arts. The program featured musical performances by 91Ӱ��’s choir (directed by Josh Ehrlich), jazz ensemble and performance ensemble (directed by Steve Bill), along with an art exhibit (directed by Ahuva Winslow and Mira Levy) featuring the work of students in 91Ӱ��’s ninth through twelfth grade arts tracks, studio art club and the school’s different art electives.

Lively jazz alternated with the dulcet tones of a “Bridge Over Troubled Water”/”Gesher Tzar Me’od” mashup and favorites from decades past and present, courtesy of 91Ӱ��’s talented and hardworking music students. After the live music performance, attendees had the opportunity to meander through the art exhibit and take in panels of biblical portraits, illustrated pesukim, nature-inspired paintings, self-portraits and still lifes—tables of exquisitely repurposed books, original jewelry and pottery, a virtual reality experience of the Book of Jeremiah, fashion creations from the sewing club—and more.

This year was especially meaningful for the arts track, which is celebrating its fourth year of existence and its first graduating arts track class.

The arts track was the brainchild of 91Ӱ��’s Visual Arts Program Director Ahuva Winslow, working in conjunction with 91Ӱ�� Principal Rabbi Eli Ciner and other members of the administration. “I am so proud of what 91Ӱ�� has helped me build and grateful for the support of Rabbi Ciner and the school for making the department grow to the powerful program that it is,” said Winslow. “It now includes four grades of arts track, art electives, art club, Artist Beit Midrash Program, fashion sewing and so much more.”

Winslow said she was particularly proud to display an entire art installation by her 12th grade Biblical Portraits: Artist Beit Midrash class, in which students explored the fascinating character of the unlikely biblical heroine Rachav. “They each created installations that visually expressed the evolution of the character of Rachav from the book of Joshua,” explained Winslow. “This project was complex and they presented works in highly sophisticated and unique ways.”

“The Arts Program is a great way to connect with students that I wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to connect with,” said Carly Rosenblatt a student in the Arts Program. “Between art class and art club I have become friends with students from all grades and classes. My favorite part of Evening of the Arts was looking at how much my friends and I have accomplished over the past few months.”

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91Ӱ�� Tanakh Department Integrates Textual Analysis and Art Appreciation

Yaelle — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 16:06:26 +0000

Tanakh students at Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� had the opportunity last week to integrate thematic textual study with the study of art. Students of Mrs. Shira Kronenberg created stained glass representations of Parashat Bereishit, and continued their pottery projects focusing on Jeremiah 18. Meanwhile, students in Mrs. Aliza Weinberg’s “Sibling Rivalry” senior honors elective just completed their first unit, on Kayin and Hevel and the world’s first fratricide. Each student picked a piece of art that depicts the story, analyzed the piece and explained the extent to which the artist stayed true to the text or veered from it. Students also discussed whether the artistic depictions were similar to any of the commentaries they had learned in class.

“The goal of the project was to give the students an overall appreciation for art and how artists have turned to the Tanach for their inspiration,” said Weinberg. Senior Lauren Borenstein ’18 said the assignment gave her the opportunity, after having learned all of the traditional Jewish approaches in great detail, to see this story through the lens of an artist.

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Innovative Chanukah Projects at 91Ӱ��

Yaelle — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 01:17:04 +0000

We’re doing some pretty innovative things for Chanukah around Yeshivat 91Ӱ��! Check out some of the artwork and engineering projects designed by our talented students for this festival of lights.

91Ӱ�� art

91Ӱ�� Engineering

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AP Art History Class Visits the Met

Yaelle — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 14:23:16 +0000

On Wednesday December 2nd, Mr. Kastner’s AP Art History class visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Mr. Kastner, a licensed New York City tour guide, led the students on a 3-hour tour featuring the art of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, Egypt, Rome and Greece (very Chanukah-appropriate!).

Students had a great time witnessing some of the art they’ve been learning about in real life, up close and personal – a privilege Mr. Kastner said few art history students around the world get to have – and also got in a very thorough and interactive study session before an art history exam at school the following day.

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