Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council

Welcome to Rimon. We put artists in the center of the Jewish community – not on the margins.

Rimon, an initiative of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, promotes and enhances Jewish identity through arts and culture, supports arts and artists who broadly explore Jewish themes, and assists the greater Jewish community in developing a collaborative involvement with the arts.

Hear from Executive Director, David Jordan Harris, how we directly support artists.

Salon Season 2019-2020

I Sing for Bathsheba: Looking for God in Drag

Sunday, November 24, 2 p.m.

Studio Z (275 E 4th St, #200, St Paul)
Cost: $12 ($6 for ages 36 and under)
Click Here for Tickets

Max Yeshaye Brumberg-Kraus is drawn to drag as a way to subvert conventional gender roles and to provoke self-awareness. In his monologue series I Sing for Bathsheba, he explores the intersection of drag performance and texts from the Bible-especially the voices of women as written by men. Artist-scholar Noam Sienna joins Max for a conversation about the search for the sacred and lifting up marginalized voices in our midst.

Sign language interpretation is available upon request with 10 days advance notice.



Rimon Artist Salon season pass
Cost: $36

The Rimon Artist Salons enter their 13th season in November with a spectacular range of artists and genres that address many hot-button themes of our times: recycling, drag and gender fluidity, immigration, and the 100th anniversary of The Dybbuk’s first performance. Buy a pass and you don’t have to worry about missing a single Salon. These must-see events often sell out, so secure your seat.

2019-2020 Artist Salons:

Artist Max Brumberg-Krauss (theater), Sunday, November 24 (2 pm), Studio Z

Artists Robyn Awend + Beth Barron (textiles), Sunday, February 16 (2 pm), Textile Center of Minnesota

Artist Sergio Barer (choral music), Wednesday, April 22 (7 pm), East Side Freedom Library

Artists Eddie Estrin + Jenna Zark (music, theater), Sunday, May 3 (7 pm), Museum of Russian Art

Project Support Grant

Rimon awarded ten Project Support grants in 2018-2019.
These grants provide financial, marketing, and production support to projects that explore Jewish identity, history, or values through the arts.
Start Your Application Today

Deadline is Friday, March 27, 2020

Review Guidelines

Keren Or (Ray of Light) is a creative arts forum for Minnesota’s Jewish teens

The call for submissions opens on Monday, November 18 (deadline: February 14)

The Keren Or contest begins its 16th year in 2020. The contest was founded in 2004 by Gerald and Eileen Siegel (z’’l) to honor the memory of their daughter, Karen Siegel-Jacobs, who died in 2001 at the age of 40. Karen Siegel-Jacobs (z’’l) grew up in Minneapolis, attended the Minneapolis Talmud Torah, and was an active member of Adath Jeshurun Congregation and USY. As a teenager, she wrote poems and short stories.

The contest’s goal is to showcase and encourage the artistic talents of Jewish youth in grades 7–12. It is managed by Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council and has become a much-anticipated community celebration of artistic achievement. Cash prizes are awarded in the categories of prose, poetry, and photography for students in grades 7–9 and grades 10–12.

The 2019 winners’ artwork is on display at the Keren Or website.

For information about the contest, the students, and winning entries from this year and previous years, visit www.kerenorcontest.org

Planning ahead?

Mark your calendar for Rimon’s 25th annual Benefit

P’Chotchka

at the Metropolitan Ballroom, 5418 Wayzata Blvd, Golden Valley

June 1, 2020

Noteworthy News

The Young Artist Mentorship program 2019

Rimon’s commitment to teen arts education grows deeper each year. Following a successful launch last summer of the Young Artist Mentorship program, Rimon has doubled the number of students selected to participate. Visual artists Jonah Schmieg and Isa Kaner-Roth, photographers Dvorah Leah Kvasnik and Ruby Stillman, and writers Max Walker and Nora Cornell are working one-on-one this summer with local artist-educators Avigail Manneberg, Linda Brooks, and Alison Morse.
Avigail Manneberg, a graduate of Israel’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, is an accomplished artist and teacher whose own work includes painting, drawing, video, sound, and fabric. Linda Brooks has exhibited her photographs internationally and taught at St. Paul Academy and Summit School for 27 years. Alison Morse’s award-winning fiction, poetry, and narrative non-fiction have appeared in numerous national literary journals, magazines, and anthologies.


Artist Salon 2018-2019 photos and videos

To the adventuring artist and art lover, Respons-a! was a performance “experiment” like none other. One curator/ two married couples / four artists: Katya Oicherman, Boris Oicherman, Pedram Baldari, and Nooshin Hakim Javadi, sat in the round and sought out the questions each of us cares about in our professional and private personae. With Palestinian olives, wine, and question-cards it was a journey of exploration and process.

photo credit Debra Fisher Goldstein

 

In the creative and cozy paper studio, Aaron Silver spoke about getting in the “zen” zone and working extremely slowly and carefully. Moderator Freya Richman encouraged Aaron to explain his precise process using layers in PhotoShop, and guests were delighted to see stop-motion videos and close-up clips of him wielding the knife’s edge. The Salon concluded with the presentation of Aaron’s commissioned #papercut piece. He was given free artistic reign with the encouraged inspiration of #SocialJustice. He took a #Yiddish #prayer from Rosh Hashana asking to liberate all imprisoned. The SOLD OUT Cutting Out Injustice: Revolution in Jewish Papercuts Salon was a great success.

photo credit Debra Fisher Goldstein

On a frigid Sunday afternoon in January, at the sunny Light Grey Art Lab in Minneapolis, Eli Libson, video game designer, cartoonist, and illustrator and artist Marty Harris joined in conversation about the rich history of Jewish illustrators and the use of guile as part of the cultural outsider’s toolkit at High-Brow/Low-Brow: An Illustrator Looks Askance at Art. Who gets to decide what is art?

photo credit Debra Fisher Goldstein

The Trail Forward, a work-in-progress by composer and multi-instrumentalist Lisa Gutkin, tells the story of growing up with 85 lefty, Jewish, outdoor-loving, garment worker grandparents. Rabbi Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg joined Lisa in conversation about making change through collective action and the power of music to ignite it.

photo credit Debra Fisher Goldstein


Spring 2019 Project Support Grant Recipients

Six projects were chosen for support in Rimon’s Spring 2019 grant round.

  1. Writer/producer Gail Rosenblum will produce a teaching curriculum to accompany her work-in-progress, MILKWEED, a feature-length animated film based on Jerry Spinelli’s young adult novel about the Holocaust.
  2. Sarah Myers will create story circles for Jewish and Muslim youth in the Twin Cities with collaborator Fardosa Hassan, exploring the commonalities between these two faith communities and confronting the stereotypes about them.
  3. Rebecca Heidenberg will produce a short experimental film that deals with issues around migration anchored in the narrative of philosopher Walter Benjamin’s escape from Nazi-occupied          France.
  4. Photographer Linda Brooks will publish her first monograph, PROXIMITIES, reflections on art, education, activism.
  5. Hineni will collaborate with artist Denise Tennen on Cheshbon HaNefesh on the Mississippi River: Preparation for Rosh Hashanah through Nature and Art at Crosby Farm Park in St. Paul.
  6. Theater director Carolyn Levy will collaborate with playwright Cynthia Cooper in doing research for the development of a play, I Was a Stranger, Too, about Jewish families who respond to the refugee crisis in a personal way.

Autumn 2018 Project Support Grant Recipients

Four projects were chosen for Rimon’s support, including multiple theater productions and research for a book.

  1. The Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company will present the world premiere production of the play Shul by Sheldon Wolf in April and May of 2019.
  2. Harmony Theatre Company and School will tour its production Save a Child’s Heart throughout the Twin Cities metro area.
  3. Michael Kuhne will complete research and oral histories in preparation for writing a book with Vic Rosenthal on the stories behind Jewish Community Action’s organizing efforts in Minnesota.
  4. Uprooted will mount TRYmester: Jewish Fertility Journeys Out Loud, using music, theater, and dance, in a Twin Cities venue in 2019.

Spring 2018 Project Support Grant Recipients

Four projects spanning ethnomusicology, orchestral and choral performance, and video were selected for Rimon’s support.

  1. The Minnesota Sinfonia will produce an orchestral concert in October of 2018, featuring Israeli cellist Amit Peled playing repertoire from his program, “Jewish Journey.”
  2. Lior Shragg will travel to Zimbabwe to conduct research on the role of music in Jewish worship and practice in that culture. He will lead educational workshops in the Twin Cities on his return.
  3. Jeff Weinberg will do post-production work on a video documentary about David Feinberg’s ongoing Voice to Vision project. This episode focuses on survivors from the Holocaust and the Sudanese Civil War.
  4. The Twin Cities Jewish Chorale will research and perform a concert in December of 2018 exploring the Jewish roots of Leonard Bernstein’s life and music.

Autumn 2017 Project Support Grant Recipients

Four projects encompassing theater, music, and the visual arts were selected for Rimon’s support

  1. Z Puppets Rosenschnoz will research and develop a theatrical exploration of exile and diaspora from both Jewish and Cherokee vantage points. The production will premiere in spring of 2019.
  2. Kyna Levi will create The Chai Series, 18 visual midrashim on the concept of creation constructed from antique windows and using Jewish imagery and micrographic calligraphy.
  3. Illusion Theater will produce in February of 2018 the world premiere of David Feldshuh’s play, based on the story of Jewish boxing promoter Yussle Jacobs and his friendship with German boxer Max Schmeling.
  4. The St. Paul JCC will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Israel with performances in both St. Paul and Minneapolis by beloved Israeli singer Shuly Nathan.

Rimon named 1 of 50 Innovative Nonprofit Jewish Organizations - FIVE YEARS IN A ROW

Rimon has been named one of North America’s top 50 innovative nonprofit Jewish organizations in the eleventh annual Slingshot Guide. For FIVE consecutive years Rimon has been recognized by Slingshot and the only Minnesota nonprofit to receive the honor in 2016. Selected from among hundreds of finalists reviewed by 93 professionals with expertise in grant-making and Jewish communal life, the Guide called Rimon, “a model of how to bring both Jewish artists and their art into… the center of Jewish community life through high-impact collaborations, education, arts advocacy, and creative alliances that build community in lasting ways.” Organizations selected in this year’s Guide were evaluated on their innovative approach, the impact they have in their work, the leadership they have in their sector, and their effectiveness at achieving results.

Read more

Slingshot 2016

Rimon partners with Yachad students

Rimon recently partnered with teens from Yachad MN to produce unique work inspired by stories, music and discussion with Vietnamese musician and artist, Hoang thi Kim Chi, and instructor, David Feinberg.

Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council
Sabes Jewish Community Center
Jay and Rose Phillips Building
The Barry Family Campus
4330 South Cedar Lake Road
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416

Phone: 952-381-3449
Email: rimon@sabesjcc.org

If you’ve enjoyed the e-guide, attended an Artist Salon, known an artist who’s received a Rimon Project Support Grant, or attended a Rimon event, show us that you care. Donate to Rimon. Your gift matters to us!

Donate to Rimon

 

Subscribe to our e-Guide

Rimon’s monthly e-Guide highlights events and opportunities in the local Jewish arts community.

Subscribe here

Check out past e-guides:

11/01/2019 – Rimon e-Guide November 2019

09/27/2019 – Rimon e-Guide October 2019

09/03/2019 – Rimon e-Guide September 2019

 

Download our newsletter

Click here to read about all the exciting things happening in the Twin Cities arts community and the ways Rimon is making an impact each year.

Advisory Board

Board Members

Officers
Linda Passon-McNally, Chair
Maury Landsman, Vice Chair

Board Members
Frank Abramson
Robyn Awend
Judy Brier
Joel Carter

Suzanne Fenton
Debra Fisher Goldstein
Phil Goldman
Siana Goodwin

Morrie Hartman

Darla Kashian

Ricka Kohnstamm

Ryan Lohr

Andrea Lubov

Ella Meyerson

Larry Pepper
Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker

Pamela Sulmer
Katherine Tane

Sarah Teske

Honorary Board Members
Barbara Camm
Mimi Fisher
Penny Galinson
Rani Halpern
Bonnie Heller
Judith Brin Ingber
Jay Isenberg
Andrea Lubov
Evan Maurer
Reva Rosenbloom
RuthAnn Weiss  z’’l

Staff

David Jordan Harris
Executive Director

Jordy Bomberg
Communications Associate

Print Friendly, PDF & Email