Artists Sara Harwin, Kanaan Kanaan and Inga Dubay love letters. They explore the tradition of sacred letters in Hebrew, Arabic & English calligraphy in many forms of art expression. They each have a creative voice dedicated to peace & justice.
Their will be an opening forum for the exhibit at 7 pm June 2. This event is open to all.
“Inga Dubay, Kanaan Kanaan and I come from three different lettering traditions, yet when we each speak about our journeys, we seek to touch upon a sacred, spiritual path,” says Sara. “We will be speaking on the evening of June 2 at 7 pm preceding the Interfaith Iftar, traditional breaking of the fast during the month of Ramadan.”
Sara Harwin
Sara was feaatured on the February 2014 cover of Oregon Jewish Life in conjunction with the exhibit she created: “Illuminated Letters – Threads of Connection.”
Her love of both art-making and Jewish learning come from being raised in a home filled with Yiddishkeit, Her early Jewish education at the Sholem Aleichem Institute in Detroit, Michigan and many years at Camp Tamarack enriched her sense of Jewish community. Later, she studied Hebrew and art history of the Middle East at the University of Michigan where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. At Michigan she gained first-hand experience in printing under the tutelage of artist and author Emil Weddige. Upon her arrival in Portland, Oregon in 1969, she went on to study clay work with Wally Schwab at Marylhurst College, incorporating her figurative approach to art onto dishware and freestanding sculptures. Her work has been exhibited internationally in numerous group and one-woman gallery and museum shows, while her ritual items are widely treasured by individuals and communities.
Inga Dubay
Inga Dubay’s work encompasses calligraphy, painting, drawing and printmaking. She taught at the Oregon College of Art and Craft for twenty-five years and was Book Arts Department Head for six years. Inga currently teaches at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. She has also taught at Portland State University for eight years and has conducted numerous workshops including as faculty at international calligraphy conferences. She has been a guest lecturer at Reed College’s Paideia, Scriptorium, and Art Department. She studied at Mills College and received a B.A. in Painting & Drawing from the University of Oregon with graduate study at the Art Academy in Oslo, Norway, the University of Oregon and the University of California at Berkeley. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally in juried and invitational exhibitions as well as shown in publications including Letter Arts Review, Lettering Arts and featured on Art Beat, Oregon Public Broadcasting. Her essay, The Write Stuff, appeared as an Op-Ed in The New York Times.
Kanaan Kanaan
Mr. Kanaan’s background is both interesting and diverse. He was born and raised in Amman, Jordan, in a Palestinian refugee camp. An artist by training, Kanaan studied at the College of Fine Arts at Baghdad University prior to immigrating to the U.S. in 1994. After moving to Portland, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and Graphic Design from PSU 1999, and in 2006, earned his Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Mixed Media from Warnborough University in Ireland. For the eight years, Kanaan was an adjunct professor in PSU’s art department where he’s taught courses in interactive media, Web design and computer graphics. Since 2011, he is serving PSU as the Middle East Student Retention Specialist. He continues to be an active artist, regularly participating in both solo and group shows.
Boris Uan-Zo-li’s artwork reflects his fascinating life, big, bold, varied and colorful. His work is abstract, but his figures are identifiable like the portraits of Woody Allen and personal hero Bob Dylan. Boris was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1938. During the Soviet times, Boris participated in four exhibitions and at one of the exhibitions in the USSR his paintings were withdrawn from the gallery by the Soviet bureaucrat because they did not fit the communist vision. After the fall of communism, Boris’s paintings were exhibited in a number of places, including the Central House of the Artists, one of the most prestigious Russian exhibitions.
Join us for a special tour of R.B. Kitaj, A Jew Etc., Etc. with Bruce Guenther, Adjunct Curator for Special Exhibitions.
Free with admission; free for members!
Take a walking tour of South Portland through old Jewish neighborhoods.
5:30 pm Happy Hour
6:30 pm Tour Begins
Meets at Lair Hill Bistro
2823 SW 1st Ave., Portland, OR 97201
Cost: $5 per person (includes your first drink and appetizers)
RSVP: oregonjcc.org/50swalkingtour
In partnership with Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, and Jewish Federation of Greater Portland
Join us for a fun, introductory Israeli dance class. All levels are welcome. Six people needed to run class. The class starts July 11 and continues every Wednesday through Sept. 12.
Cost: $100 Members + Guests.
Drop-in: $15 per class
Registration information: CG402, oregonjcc.org/registration
In the Dance Studio
From now through September, every Friday night (except 4th Friday) at Congregation Neveh Shalom, you can enjoy our beautiful NW summer evenings singing, praying and schmoozing outside on our upper plaza! If weather doesn’t allow us to be outside, we will meet in the Stampfer Chapel.
Please join Congregation Shaarie Torah for a special Shabbat morning service. At this service, we will include new melodies, explore the service with some reflections on the prayers themselves, and chant according to the Triennial cycle of Torah readings. It will be a mix of the beautiful and familiar traditional Shabbat morning service and new ideas and energy. This service meets in the Chapel downstairs on the third Saturday of the month.
Torah Troop for 3rd-5th Graders
1st and 3rd Shabbat every month at 10:00am
Meet in the MAIN service (Stampfer Chapel or Main Sanctuary) for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week. Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam, and join the community for lunch!
Join other young families with kids age 0-5 years at Congregation Neveh Shalom for singing, dancing, stories, indoor picnic-style lunch and Shabbat fun.
Outdoor Summer Concert Series – Local Musicians Day
Featuring Eric Stern, Michelle Alany & the Mystics, and Three Leg Torso. Crafts and activities for young families.
Cost: $10. Series Pass: $25.
Sponsors: RACC, Leonard & Lois Schnitzer Chartiable Supporting Foundation of OJCF, Urban Development Partners, Multnomah County Cultural Coalition & OCT, Harold and Jane Pollin, Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Services, PJ Library, Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Neveh Shalom, Havurah Shalom, Congregation Shir Tikvah, Congregation Shaarie Torah, Ben Drucker and Andrea Sanchez, Jonathan and Sarah Glass, Anthony and Priscilla Kostiner, and Mark and Mindy Zeitzer.