“I’m an Artist and a Jew”: The Community and Creative Minds of the Artist Beit Midrash

By Josh Polanski

“Sense of Safety” by Sandra Mayo

“There’s a saying about Jewish people: we are always running,” said Sandra Mayo, an Argentinean professional artist and alumna of the Artist Beit Midrash, a program of Hebrew College and JArts. “My grandfather was born in Ottoman, Türkiye, and when he emigrated to Argentina, one of the only things he brought was some Ottoman fine embroidery velvet which he had donated to the community synagogue for a Torah cover. It was very important to him,” she remembers. “So, I’m making a print with the scraps from the cover. And this is all thanks to the Artist Beit Midrash. It pushed me to reconnect with my Jewish history.”

The Artist Beit Midrash is a Jewish learning salon that brings together Boston-area Jewish creators to study Jewish text, reflect on their creative process, and build community. Mayo was a member of the first cohort and coordinates alumni events now. “I’m an Artist and a Jew,” Mayo added. “They are both who I am.”

Sandra Mayo

In partnership with the Jewish Arts Collaborative (JArts) & Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP), Hebrew College launched the Artist Beit Midrash in 2021. The community includes writers, installation artists, sculptors, photographers, singers, theater directors, textile painters, memoirists, poets, potters, and more. The 30 participants come together for monthly cohort sessions that include hevruta (partner) study of classical and contemporary texts, and group conversations about the creative process as a spiritual path. They come with varying understandings of both the words “Jewish” and “artist.” Continue reading