Dream Lab
Dream Lab, a think tank comprised of Los Angeles artists and Jewish Educators, considered how to better integrate artists into Jewish Education and to generate more creative Jewish engagement, interpretation and expression.
Participants investigated the role of creativity in teaching and learning. What new pedagogies are being developed utilizing the arts and creative media? What is the relationship between learning and developing creativity? How do we experience creativity? Can creativity be taught? What kinds of Jewish exploration and expression can we access when we integrate arts and creativity into the teaching and learning experience?
Part “Pedagogy Test Kitchen” and part “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” Dream Lab drew from the amazing diverse Jewish talent in Los Angeles and beyond to engage educators and teaching artists in meaningful learning and conversation about the potential for nourishing greater creativity in the field of Jewish education. Each week a guest artist/creator shared a lesson demonstrating his or her creative approach to teaching on a Jewish subject of his or her choice.
Guest teaching artists included Zion Ozeri (The Jewish Lens); Sarah Lefton (BimBam) Aaron Henne (Theatre Dybbuk); Andrea Hodos (Moving Torah); Corrie Siegel (micrographer and curator); Deanna Neil (writer, singer, actor, and educator); Batsheva Frankel (Launchbox); Benny Ferdman (artist and educator); and Kristen Smiarowski (choreographer).
Illuminated Street Mural Painting
AJU’s Institute for Jewish Creativity is a proud partner of Illuminated Streets. This project seeks to advance a Jewish contribution via the LA street art scene, build ties between LA and Israel and allow the opportunity for expressing Jewish identity through an unlikely media. Illuminated Streets brings together Itamar Paloge a.k.a Faluja and Hillel Smith, artists from Tel Aviv and LA respectively, to create collaborative murals in each city.
