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Two visions, two publics: the Jewish Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center

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Two visions, two publics: the Jewish Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center

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Content TWO VISIONS, TWO PUBLICS: THE JEWISH MUSEUM AND THE SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER by Brett Drucker ______________________________________________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC, ROSKI SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF PUBLIC ART STUDIES May 2008 Copyright 2008 Brett Drucker ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wonderful wife, Aderet Okon Drucker, who is a source of constant inspiration. I feel blessed that she is part of my life. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Very special thanks to Melissa Benson for her endless inspiration, encouragement and patience. Melissa always provided me with perspective when I needed it the most. For this, I am eternally grateful. I cannot overstate my appreciation. I would also like to thank Karen Moss. Early on, her insight and enthusiasm truly helped shape my thesis. I have learned a great deal from her, as my teacher and mentor. Lastly, I would like to thank Caryl Levy for providing me support and insight throughout the process of writing this thesis as well as during my entire journey at USC. I have conducted the majority of my research for this project both in the library of the Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles and also at the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. I would also like to acknowledge the people I interviewed at these two institutions: Sylvia Bernstein-Tregub, Director of Community Relations of the Skirball Cultural Center; Susan Braunstein, curator of archaeology and Judaica and head of the Judaica Department at the Jewish Museum; Emily Doerfel, School Outreach Coordinator at the Skirball Cultural Center; Barbara Gilbert, Consulting Curator at the Skirball Cultural Center and Rose Greenstein, Marketing Coordinator at the Jewish Museum. I learned a great deal about these institutions in the process and am so grateful to every one of them for taking time out of their busy schedules to speak with me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ii Acknowledgements iii List of Figures v Abstract vi Preface vii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: The History, Collection and Programs of The Jewish Museum 4 Humble Beginnings 5 Preserving The Past 17 The Jewish Journey 18 Jewish Identities 21 The Warburg Mansion 26 Governance, Organization and Support 27 Exploring The Jewish Experience 28 A Jewish Public 29 Chapter 3: The History, Collection and Programs of The Skirball Cultural Center 32 Birth of a Museum 36 Celebrating The Future 41 Jewish Values 43 All The People 46 The Campus 49 Governance, Organization and Support 50 Exploring The Multicultural Experience 51 A Diverse Public 54 Chapter 4: One History, Two Visions 55 Chapter 5: Conclusion 60 Bibliography 64 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The Warburg Mansion 9 Source: http://www.jewishmuseum.org Figure 2: Helen Frankenthaler, Amalfi Way, 1955. 13 Source: http://www.ameringer-yohe.com Figure 3: Kenneth Noland, Turnsole, 1961. 15 Source: http://www.moma.org Figure 4: George Segal, The Holocaust, 1982. 20 Source: http://www.britannica.com Figure 5: Deborah Kass, Too Jewish? Cover, My Elvis, 1992. 22 Source: http://www.jewishmuseum.org Figure 6: Kenneth Aptekar, Albert. Used to be Abraham, 1995. 23 Source: http://www.nmajh.org Figure 7: Hannah Wilke, Pareve Venus, 1982-84. 25 Source: http://www.hannahwilke.com Figure 8: The Skirball Cultural Center 40 Source: http://www.skirball.org Figure 9: Manfred Anson, Statue of Liberty Hanukkah Lamp, 1985. 43 Source:http://www.skirball.org Figure 10: Noah’s Ark at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2007. 45 Source: http://www.skirball.org Figure 11: Stan’s Café Theatre Co. Of All the People of All the World, 2006. 47 Source: http://www.stanscafe.co.uk vi ABSTRACT Both the Jewish Museum in New York and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles were established with a similar mission: to collect, preserve and display Jewish visual culture. This thesis compares and contrasts the collections, exhibitions, programs and patronage of these two institutions, exploring how they each use their collection to interpret the history of the Jewish people and present that history to their public. This thesis also examines how these two distinct narratives intentionally yield two very different publics: The Jewish Museum public is composed primarily of Jews who are interested in their own culture, while the Skirball Cultural Center targets a multi-cultural American public with little or no background in Judaism. vii PREFACE I was drawn to a study of the Jewish Museum in New York and the Skirball Cultural Center (SCC) in Los Angeles because of my interest in their permanent exhibitions, comprised by the first and second largest collections of Judaica in the United States. For the purposes of this thesis, Judaica is defined broadly as material culture created, intended for and/or used in a Jewish religious, historical or cultural context. With collections of similar size, quality and focus, both the Jewish Museum and the SCC have created permanent exhibitions that initially appear to tell the same story, the history of the Jewish people from antiquity to the present. After visiting both sites, however, I made an unexpected observation. I noticed there was a different type of visitor attending each of the institutions. Despite their apparent similarities—Judaica collections of like depth, quality and provenance; a shared commitment to visual arts- based programming with Jewish-themed or -derived content; and permanent exhibitions that showcase Jewish history— the Jewish Museum in New York, affiliated with the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, affiliated with Hebrew Union College, in fact attract strikingly different publics. The question is, why? A closer look has revealed essential differences between what had initially appeared to be such similar institutions. They have defined two very different missions, created permanent exhibitions that tell distinctly different stories of the Jewish people’s journey from ancient days to the present, and, having derived different lessons from the viii same history, have directed their resources toward the needs of two vastly different publics. I view these institutions as a metaphor for twin siblings with the same DNA, whose adopting parents, two separate Jewish seminaries, brought them up in different environments and under different circumstances. Now, as fully formed, “adult” institutions, they possess very different and distinct personalities. The question is, given nearly identical DNA, how did they become so different in adulthood? In other words, why do the Jewish Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center attract such different visitors? My thesis will explore how both of these institutions have used their resources to interpret a single, shared history in support of two very different missions and, as a result, two very different publics. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Throughout history, Jews have often been referred to as the “People of the Book.” Traditionally, reading and writing Jewish texts has been considered a “sacred work” and its skilled practitioners treated with the utmost respect. For theological, political, and practical reasons, however, it could be argued that Jews did not play a significant role in the visual arts until the mid-19 th century. While illustration and the craft of the written word have consistently been highly valued skills in the Jewish world—almost all of the Torah Scrolls found in synagogues today are meticulously hand scribed—Judaica, the historical and literary material that pertains to Jewish life and customs, including ceremonial objects, was not regarded with the same level of respect despite the fact that it was often the focus of tremendous creative energy. Before the mid-1800s, these objects were regarded by their makers, owners and users simply as the tools needed to conduct religious ceremonies and follow religious obligations. They were important because the rituals they enabled were important; their beauty was a sign of respect for the ritual associated with them. That the beauty of these objects, or their significance, could exist independent of the ritual for which they were created was almost inconceivable. The use of these objects as a source of education per se (not merely for the religious ritual itself) was equally inconceivable. In the late-19 th and early 20 th centuries, however, during a European movement to establish general interest museums, several Jewish museums were founded in Vienna, Danzig, Prague, Warsaw and Berlin, cities with large Jewish populations at the time. These museums collected and displayed art and artifacts of Jewish life. The same movement inspired the collections of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew 2 Union College in the United States, giving rise to what would become the Jewish Museum in New York and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. 1 As previously mentioned, both institutions were “adopted” by two different Jewish seminaries, the educational arms of two of the three major branches or movements of Judaism in the United States: Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. The Jewish Museum was founded under the auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and as such was born of the Conservative branch of Judaism. The Skirball Museum and, eventually, the Skirball Cultural Center (SCC), came into being under the aegis of the Reform movement and its seminary, Hebrew Union College (HUC). The differences between the three main movements of Judaism can be explained with a chess analogy: imagine a chessboard where every piece on the board represents a different Jewish law. Orthodox Judaism regards every chess piece (or Jewish law) to be unmovable from that chessboard. That is, all Jewish laws must be observed without fail and without question. By contrast, the Conservative movement views all the chess pieces as sacred but is open to find new ways of moving those pieces around the chessboard. The Reform movement, in a distinct departure from the other branches of Judaism, interprets Jewish law much more freely including a willingness to take some of those chess pieces off the board entirely. This simplistic view of a very complex subject is meant only to provide a rudimentary understanding of the fundamental differences between the branches of Judaism for the purpose of understanding the issues presented in this thesis and their impact on the Jewish Museum and Skirball Cultural Center. 1 Matthew Israel. “A Magnet for the With-it Kids.” Art in America v. 95 no. 9 (October, 2007): 73. 3 This thesis begins with a brief overview of the history of both institutions to establish a firm context for their respective evolutions. Next the two institutions will be compared and contrasted in terms of history, collection, program, geography and facilities. Their efforts to define, engage and meet the needs of their public will also be examined. Finally, the conclusion, will describe the particular mix of historical, social and philosophical considerations that propelled each museum to define its public and address its needs. 4 CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORY, COLLECTION AND PROGRAMS OF THE JEWISH MUSEUM The Jewish Museum in New York, known globally for its contribution to Jewish education and scholarship of the arts, draws visitors from all over the world to see firsthand its collection of priceless Jewish objects, some of which are the last of their kind in existence. But to many of its visitors today, as it was for its founders over 100 years ago, the Jewish Museum is more then a mere institution displaying precious artworks. It is a center for Jewish learning, responsible for the preservation and transmission of Jewish culture and history. Significantly, however, the 100-plus year history of the Jewish Museum has included often successful, often painful experiments beyond this core mission. Throughout its existence, the Museum’s priorities and objectives have shifted, in ways both large and small, provoked by external events and internal debate. As Emily D. Bilski observed, “The history of the museum can be seen as a reflection of the ever- shifting values and concerns of the world Jewish community, the American Jewish community and the art world, as the Museum has continued to evolve and adapt over the years.” 2 This chapter chronicles the Jewish Museum’s journey from a modest collection housed in a library, to a stand-alone museum, to a world-class showcase of contemporary art, and, ultimately, a return to a commitment to its core mission to preserve and present the history of Jewish culture. 2 Nina Cardin and Silverman David. ed. The Seminary at 100: Reflections on the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Conservative Movement. New York: United Synagogue Book Service, 1987, 143. 5 HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Despite its “birth” in the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) of America in New York, considered “the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism worldwide,” the early years of the collection that would become the celebrated Jewish Museum were quite humble. 3 On January 20, 1904, Mayer Sulzberger, a Philadelphia judge and avid book collector, donated 7,500 Hebrew and Jewish books and 750 manuscripts to JTS. Along with the books and manuscripts, Sulzberger also donated 26 Jewish ceremonial objects to the Seminary. Accompanying the donation, Sulzberger presented a letter to Dr. Alexander Max, the Seminary Librarian, stating the following: “I have added thereto a number of objects used in the various rites and ceremonies, to serve as a suggestion for the establishment of a Jewish museum in connection with the library.” 4 The ceremonial objects he donated were tucked away, quite literally, in a small display case located in a corner of the library and remained there until the early 1930s. Sulzberger’s wish to establish a Jewish museum was not realized until forty years later. Rabbi Solomon Schechter, the President of the Seminary at the time of Sulzberger’s donation, did not hold Jewish ceremonial objects in high regard. Typical of many Conservative Jews in the early 20 th century, Schechter and his faculty were supporters of the academic principles of Wissenschaft des Judentums, “the scientific study of Judaism,” a school of thought developed in Germany during the mid-1800’s 3 The Jewish Theological Seminary of America http://www.jtsa.edu/ 4 Jack Wertheimer, ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.2. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997, 312. 6 meant to rationalize the study of Jewish theology, history and culture. According to Schechter, Wissenschaft des Judentums could only truly be achieved by reading from Jewish texts. 5 He did not regard Jewish ceremonial objects – the tools needed to conduct Jewish ritual – as worthy of study because they were reflections of faith, not reason. Rather, he considered them a distraction from learning. The Seminary’s next leader, Dr. Cyrus Adler, held a very different view. Unlike Schechter, Adler was not a rabbi and approached Jewish learning from a lay perspective. “Adler recognized objects as sources of information,” believing much could be learned about Jewish culture by studying both Jewish text and Jewish objects. 6 An art enthusiast, Adler worked as a curator at the United States National Museum and as a librarian at the Smithsonian institution before becoming president of JTS. Ultimately, Adler “provided the critical link between the museum world and the Seminary…” 7 Schechter and Adler illustrate two generations of thinking about Jewish studies during the early 20 th century. While the focus of Schechter’s scholarship was Jewish religion, through the study of Jewish texts, Adler, representing the next generation of scholars, broadened his field of inquiry to include Jewish culture. With the help of a 5 Wissenschaft des Judentums (The scientific investigation of Judaism) refers to a movement of the 19th century that sought critical investigation of Jewish literature and culture. Jewish scholars used scientific methods of investigation to trace the origin and development of Jewish traditions in an attempt to place Jewish culture on par with Western European culture and to restore a sense of Jewish pride. While followers of the movement worked to restore intellectual respectability for Jewish scholars, they tended to present Judaism as a relic and often ignored matters of contemporary relevance. (http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/) 6 Jack Wertheimer ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.1. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997, 323. 7 Nina Cardin and Silverman David. ed. The Seminary at 100: Reflections on the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Conservative Movement. New York: United Synagogue Book Service, 1987, 145. 7 select group of patrons, Adler began to actively acquire Jewish material objects, or Judaica, for the Seminary library. In 1925, with the support of Felix M. Warburg, Adler purchased the Seminary’s first major collection of Jewish objects. This distinguished private collection had been assembled by Hadji Ephraim Benguiat, a Turkish-born antiquities and art dealer who traveled throughout Europe collecting and selling antiquities, keeping for himself the Judaica he found along the way. As a result of his travels, the Benguiat collection was extremely diverse, consisting “of sixty-two items dating from the 16 th through 19 th centuries, from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.” 8 In 1930, the Seminary moved from its original site on W. 123 Street in Manhattan to its current location on W. 122 Street. With a much larger building and a significantly larger library, the growing collection of ceremonial objects was given its own room in 1931 and officially named The Museum of Jewish Ceremonial Objects. The newly formed museum’s mission statement, established by the Seminary’s board of trustees, was very straightforward: the Museum of Jewish Ceremonial Objects was for “… the collection, preservation and research of material Jewish culture, coupled with presenting this material to the larger community in a compelling interpretive context in order to educate and stimulate.” 9 Even though the Museum had limited hours of operation and space, it had a consistent following throughout the 1930s and mid 1940s. Despite Adler’s dedication to the collection, however, and despite his background as a 8 Jack Wertheimer. ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.1. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997, 315. 9 Nina Cardin and Silverman David. ed. The Seminary at 100: Reflections on the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Conservative Movement. New York: United Synagogue Book Service, 1987, 143. 8 museum curator, only part of the new museum’s mission—collecting and presenting— was enacted during Adler’s era. The person who contributed most to the collection’s growth and development was Dr. Harry George Friedman, a Polish-born investment banker who was a non- practicing rabbi. 10 From 1941 until his death in 1965, Friedman donated more than 6,000 works to the Jewish Museum. The trauma of war generally and the Holocaust specifically destroyed the Jewish population in Europe and displaced most survivors, many of whom settled on the East Coast of the United States. Thousands of Jewish refugees found safe haven in New York as did the material culture of European Jewry. Very active as a collector during the Holocaust, Friedman scoured the city of New York for objects to buy for the museum. “His passion as a collector was to salvage the artistic creations of the Jewish past for the benefit of future generations…He was concerned with the long-range and comprehensive preservation of Judaica.” 11 Self-appointed “trustees” of that past such as Harry Friedman on behalf of the Jewish Museum dedicated themselves to the care and preservation of what they viewed as the remnants of a lost world. In 1944, Frieda Schiff Warburg donated to the Seminary the former Warburg mansion, located on 5th Avenue at 92nd Street (Fig. 1) with the understanding that it would house a Jewish museum. In a letter addressed to Seminary president Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, Mrs. Warburg formally presented the mansion to the Seminary in honor of her late husband Felix Warburg, an art collector and member of the Seminary’s board of 10 Nina Cardin and Silverman David. ed. The Seminary at 100: Reflections on the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Conservative Movement. New York: United Synagogue Book Service, 1987, 148-9. 11 Ibid. 9 directors at the time of his death in 1937. The letter reads in part, “I am now ready and glad to offer my former home … to the Jewish Seminary of America to be used as a Museum… It is not specifically a memorial to him [Mr. Warburg], but rather my affirmation of my faith in the fundamental principles of our Jewish Traditions…” 12 (Figure 1) Warburg Mansion on 5 th Avenue Mrs. Warburg’s gift was also an expression of her concern that the effects of the Holocaust had decimated so many Jewish communities and institutions in Europe. By the early 1940s, people living in America, and especially Jews, were well aware of the atrocities taking place in Nazi Europe. Like many of her cohort, Mrs. Warburg felt an obligation to establish and support institutions that would be dedicated to the preservation of Jewish culture and history. Officially renamed “The Jewish Museum” by the Seminary’s executive committee, the collection moved to the Warburg Mansion in 1947 and the museum’s 12 Author Unknown, The Jewish Museum: Inaugural Exhibition. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1948, 2. 10 identity as an independent institution began to take shape. No longer the mere afterthought of a seminary library, the new building dramatically increased the amount of gallery space for permanent and temporary exhibitions. The interior renovation by architect Percival Goodman transformed Frieda Warburg’s home into a museum. Several small rooms on each floor were combined into a few larger spaces conducive to presenting and viewing works of art. While the new building enhanced the museum’s ability to present exhibitions and educational programs, the new location, on Manhattan’s fashionable Upper East Side, provided an opportunity to reach a much larger audience and, for the first time, also draw recognition from the secular world. In its new home the Jewish Museum was now far from any neighborhoods that had a predominantly Jewish population. Whether this step toward “assimilation” was part of Frieda Warburg’s vision for the museum is unclear. What is clear is that in its new location, the Jewish Museum was in a position to reach and cultivate new visitors. Now literally in the same neighborhood as the world-renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Jewish Museum aspired to establish legitimacy as a “museum among museums.” 13 The world of secular art museums became models for the Jewish Museum, including as a template for its governing structure. When Frieda Warburg suggested establishing a women’s committee, Finkelstein vetoed the idea, arguing, erroneously, that none of the other museums had women’s committees and that “we should not do anything that would be less dignified than their practice.” 14 Whether Finkelstein was unaware of—or perhaps all too aware of—the influential role women’s 13 Jack Wertheimer, ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.1. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997, 327. 14 Ibid. 11 committees had played in the early years of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum among other leading museums, or whether he sought to dilute Mrs. Warburg’s influence on the fledgling institution is not known. The move to the new building was significant in one other respect: it transformed the focus of the exhibition program from Jewish ceremonial objects to works of art by Jewish artists, a shift initiated by Meyer Schapiro, an art historian at Columbia University whose focus was contemporary art. A member of the museum’s advisory committee, Schapiro persuaded the Seminary to authorize the museum to focus its collecting and programming efforts on the work of contemporary Jewish artists, and away from the more traditional material for which the museum had been known. The museum’s opening exhibition, The Giving of the Law and Ten Commandments, included several contemporary artworks selected by Schapiro. The Jewish Museum was poised to take its place in the secular art world. Finkelstein’s choice for the museum’s first director in its new location was Stephen Kayser, an art historian with a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg and a refugee from Nazi Europe. At the time, Kayser was a professor of art history at San Jose State College in California. Finkelstein believed that Kayser, whose specialty was Jewish art, would enable the museum to develop and help reformulate the museum’s permanent collection into more organized exhibitions. Kayser eventually accepted the position and began working for the museum in 1947. Kayser and Guido Schoenberger, the museum’s chief curator, a refugee like Kayser, were extremely involved in the museum’s collecting activities, mostly from Europe. To Kayser and Schoenberger “these were not merely objects, but vestiges of 12 Jewish martyrdom.” 15 In 1952 under Kayser’s leadership the museum acquired 120 ceremonial objects looted by the Nazis during the war. Not surprisingly, Kayser was also committed to making the Museum “a home for living Jewish artists” and, from his earliest days at the museum, enthusiastically implemented Meyer Schapiro’s plan, which called for devoting the entire first floor to work by contemporary Jewish artists. 16 Kayser made it a priority to establish professional relationships with many prominent artists like Jacques Lipchitz and Marc Chagall, although the museum still did not at this time collect contemporary art. 17 Despite Schapiro’s bold plan to use the ground floor gallery to transform the Jewish Museum from a special-interest museum to a destination for contemporary art, there was no appreciable growth in visitor attendance and press coverage through the 1940s. Continuing to adhere to its original objectives, “the collection and preservation and research of material Jewish culture,” by the 1950s, interest in the museum and its collection was in rapid decline. Between 1948 and 1950 attendance dropped by over 50%. 18 Recognizing that there was a lack of public support for the existing collection, a decision was made by the museum board to focus its institutional resources on contemporary art. With a reluctant nod from the Seminary’s Board of Overseers, the museum, for the first time, began exhibiting a few contemporary artworks that had 15 Grace Cohen Grossman. Jewish Museums of the World. Westport, Connecticut: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 2003, 264. 16 Jack Wertheimer. ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.2. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997, 338. 17 Matthew Israel. “A Magnet for the With-it Kids.” Art in America v. 95 no. 9 (October, 2007): 75. 18 Jack Wertheimer. ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.2. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997, 340. 13 nothing to do with Judaism or Jewish culture. This was a defining moment for the Jewish Museum. It took one step towards the mainstream art world and one step away from the fundamental values The Jewish Theological Seminary, and the museum itself, was founded upon. A steady schedule of exhibitions featuring contemporary Jewish artworks was established. For example, Artists of the New York School: Second Generation opened in 1957, a show that, as its name implies, was on the forefront of the art scene. Around this time the museum also began mounting one-person shows, Adolph Gottlieb in 1957 and Helen Frankenthaler in 1960. (Fig 2) (Figure 2) Helen Frankenthaler, Amalfi Way, 1955. Recognized for having the strongest exhibitions of contemporary art in the city, the Jewish Museum carved out a niche for itself in the New York art scene. The museum’s popularity reached new heights and by the early 1960s the Jewish Museum was the “foremost showcase for contemporary art among New York’s Museums.” 19 19 Maurice Berger, Joan Rosenbaum, and others. Masterworks of The Jewish Museum. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004, 21. 14 While in the late 1950s when the Museum began showing contemporary art, there continued to be some dimension or element of direct Jewish content in everything that was exhibited, by the early 1960s much of what was shown no longer possessed strong Jewish content or even any Jewish content. In fact, the vast majority of artworks displayed during the 1960s and early 1970s were neither by Jewish artists nor did they have anything directly to do with Judaism. Many in the New York art world considered this a major breakthrough for the Jewish Museum and “a cure for the doldrums of the fifties.” 20 The Seminary administration, however, had strongly mixed feelings about The Jewish Museum’s shift in priorities. On one hand, the new focus was taking away from their original Jewish collection. On the other hand, attendance was at an all time high. This shift in priorities was underscored with the hiring of a new museum director, Alan Solomon, who replaced Stephen Kayser in 1963. Solomon had a strong background in contemporary art and a very distinct vision of what he wanted to accomplish at the museum. Solomon wanted to produce even more progressive exhibitions focusing primarily on the avant-garde. Although he left the museum after only two years his successor, Sam Hunter, shared Solomon’s vision. During their time at the Museum, Solomon and Hunter’s exhibitions, which included one of the first museum exhibitions of Minimalist art, and a show of Pop and Kinetic art, drew worldwide attention. For example, in 1963 the major exhibition Toward a New Abstraction was shown, which was one of the first exhibitions to present 20 Jack Wertheimer, ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.2. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997, 341. 15 new developments in abstract painting. Some of the artists featured in this exhibition were Al Held, Ellsworth Kelly, Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. (Fig. 3) (Figure 3) Kenneth Noland, Turnsole, 1961. There was as also the extremely successful show Portal to America: The Lower East Side, 1870-1925 in 1967, which explored immigrant life on the Lower East Side. Solomon and Hunter both featured other star quality artists—Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and Larry Rivers—whether or not they happened to be Jewish. The 1960s were considered by many to be the “hay day” of the Jewish Museum because of its popularity and status within the museum art world. During this period the Museum also received a significant number of donations from contemporary art enthusiasts. For instance, the major contemporary art collectors Albert and Vera List donated funds that enabled the Museum to create more gallery space and an outdoor sculpture court. 21 21 Matthew Israel. “A Magnet for the With-it Kids.” Art in America v. 95 no. 9 (October, 2007): 75. 16 By the mid 1960s, however, the Seminary was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the Museum’s new direction. During this period of growth and popularity, the vast majority of exhibitions did not feature Jewish artists, Jewish content or Jewish themes. The Seminary began to wonder where all of the Jewish art went at the Jewish Museum and major donors to the Seminary expressed unease about further donations, feeling they would be unintentionally supporting “an art program completely unrelated to Judaism and inconsistent with their intentions in making gifts… Louis Finkelstein had hoped to teach all Americans something about Jews and Judaism. But Jewish Art… was not consistently appealing enough to the general public to serve as an effective medium for conveying Judaism or Jewish culture.” 22 The rift between the Jewish Museum and the Seminary came to a head in 1967 which resulted in Hunter resigning as the director of the Jewish Museum, asserting that the “increasing emphasis on Judaica at the expense of contemporary art … was among the factors influencing his decision.” 23 In 1971, the board of directors from both the museum and Seminary voted to completely discontinue exhibiting and collecting any contemporary art which did not directly relate to Jewish culture or history. From the early 1970s on, The Jewish Museum returned to its original focus, preserving and presenting exhibitions that reflected Jewish history and material culture. 22 Jack Wertheimer, Jack ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.1. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997, 344-6. 23 Esterow, Milton. “Director of Jewish Museum Quits in Policy Rift.” New York Times (October 25, 1967): 38. 17 PRESERVING THE PAST The Jewish Museum’s collection is the largest of its kind in the United States and includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, ceremonial objects and much more. Today “….The collection of the Jewish Museum demonstrates how Jewish culture is reflected in art through 28,000 objects of different media, including Fine Arts, Judaica, and broadcast media.” 24 The permanent collection includes important work in nearly every medium. Among the collection’s larger objects is Torah Ark: Urbino Ark, ca. 1500, a wood carved and painted ark (liturgical furniture made to hold Torah scrolls) currently installed on the museum’s third floor as part of the museum’s permanent exhibition. Other highlights from the collection include Alfred Stieglitz’s iconic photograph, The Steerage, 1907; the Marc Chagall lithograph Dance of Miriam, Sister of Moses from The Story of Exodus, 1966; modern Judaica like Moshe Zabari’s Torah Crown, 1969. Broadcast media is the Museum’s newest area of inquiry and collecting, which can be accessed online or at the Barbara and E. Robert Goodkind Media Center, located at the Jewish Museum. The Media Center, designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, opened in 2003 as part of the renovation project for the permanent exhibition, Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey. The centerpiece of the collection, the National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting (NJAB), was developed in 1981 and was acquired by the Media Center when it opened at the Jewish Museum. An integral part of the Jewish 24 The Jewish Museum in New York http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/ 18 Museum’s permanent collection, the archive consists of more than 4,300 broadcast programs from 1935 to the present and is constantly updated with new material. THE JEWISH JOURNEY The Jewish Museum’s permanent exhibition, Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey, opened in 1993, was renovated then reopened in April of 2003. A collaborative effort between the curatorial and education departments of the museum, the permanent exhibition tells the story of the four thousand year history of the Jewish people through an array of media drawn almost entirely from the permanent collection. Before entering the first gallery of the exhibition, visitors walk through a smaller room containing four large stone columns. Each column is engraved with a cornerstone concept of Judaism: Covenant, a religion that is founded upon a covenant with God; Exodus, a shared history of the release from bondage out of Egypt; Law, receiving and following Halakha (the Jewish code of laws); and Land, the promise by God of being given the holy land of Israel. The exhibition is comprised of four distinct sections: Forging an Identity (c. 1200 BCE - c. 640 CE) describes the transformation from Israelite to Jew in ancient times; Interpreting a Tradition (c. 640 - c. 1800) describes Jewish life in the Diaspora; Confronting Modernity (c. 1800 - 1948) describes how modernity changed Jewish life; and Realizing a Future: Contemporary Voices looks at Jewish identity in contemporary art. 25 25 Ibid. 19 Upon first entering the permanent exhibition visitors are confronted with a biblical quote displayed prominently on the wall, “Tell your children about it, and let your children tell theirs, and their children the next generation.” (Joel 1:3) This quote, a reminder of the obligation to pass the teaching of Torah from generation to generation, ultimately speaks of the preservation of Jewish life and tradition through learning. The commitment to collect Jewish objects and enable the public to learn about Judaism and the history of Jewish culture has been an objective of the museum since its inception. In the early days, because of the rampant destruction of Jewish communities and Jewish culture during World War II, the Museum’s notion of preservation focused on the need to gather and keep as many Jewish objects as possible before they disappeared completely. In other words, the Jewish Museum’s original collection of Jewish objects was born out of crisis. The hope was that if Jewish objects from around the world were gathered and preserved it would keep alive the memory of the people who once owned and used these objects. Today, the collection is also used to examine the preservation of the Jewish people. Culture and Continuity asks two framing questions, “How has Judaism been able to thrive for thousands of years across the globe, often in difficult and even tragic circumstances? and “What constitutes the essence of Jewish identity?” 26 The Museum’s answer, “Survival as a people has depended upon both the continuity of Jewish ideas and values, and the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances” is illustrated through the use of nearly 1,200 objects that tell the story of Jewish cultural history through time, from ancient oil lamps, to thousand-year-old Hebrew texts and the 26 Ibid. 20 largest collection of Chanukah lamps in America. 27 The second portion of the exhibition, on the third floor, features close to 400 works, spanning from the 16 th century to the present and features a range of fine art from Solomon Alexander Hart’s painting, The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in Leghorn (1850) to George Segal’s sculpture The Holocaust (1982). (Fig 4) (Figure 4) George Segal, The Holocaust, 1982. 27 The Jewish Museum in New York http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/ 21 JEWISH IDENTITY The Jewish Museum’s temporary exhibitions are shown in three different gallery spaces: two larger spaces, one on the first floor and another on the second floor with a third smaller exhibition space also located on the second floor. In a typical year there are two or three temporary exhibitions per gallery space. Because the Jewish Museum restricts itself to exhibitions with an overtly Jewish theme, it does not participate in the vast majority of traveling shows that circulate around the country and internationally. With modifications, shows originating at the Jewish Museum occasionally travel to secular museums. Although these restrictions place certain burdens on the curatorial staff, they also allow the Jewish Museum to pursue its own agenda. An example of that agenda is the exhibition Too Jewish?: Challenging Traditional Identities which originated at the Jewish Museum where it was on view from March 10-July 14, 1996 before traveling to other Jewish venues. (Fig. 5) An exploration of Jewish identity, how it is defined and by whom, the work in the show represented “…a wide spectrum of concerns from the secular and the spiritual, yet all relating to an identification with Jewishness.” 28 28 Norman L. Kleebatt, ed. Too Jewish?: Challenging Traditional Identities. New York: Rutgers University Press, 1996, vii. 22 (Figure 5) Deborah Kass, My Elvis, 1992, cover of the catalogue from the exhibition, Too Jewish? Much like many other exhibitions at the Jewish Museum, Too Jewish? addressed a number of issues that have preoccupied members of the Jewish community. According to the exhibition catalogue, Jewish identity, the exhibition’s theme, was a topic many people within the Jewish community were struggling with during the mid 1990s. “Jewish identity in the 1990s takes many forms, from a renewed comfort with a familiar past, to a search for meaningful new forms of ritual...” 29 The artists in Too Jewish? examined questions of where their own Jewish identity fits within the majority culture as well as within the Jewish community, from religious laws dictating who is 29 Ibid. 23 and isn’t Jewish, to personal definitions of Jewishness. For example, Albert. Used to be Abraham by Ken Aptekar, consists of the faces of two men gazing in opposite directions, one face stacked on top of the other. (Fig. 6) (Figure 6) Kenneth Aptekar, Albert. Used to be Abraham, 1995, from the exhibition catalogue for Too Jewish? Written across the center of the painting and dividing the two faces appears the text “Albert. Used to be Abraham.” This painting is ultimately about Jews identity and assimilation. Aptekar takes on the common practice of Jews changing their names to appear less Jewish. Another example is My Elvis by Deborah Kass, which is on the cover of the Too Jewish? catalogue. It is a silkscreen of Barbra Streisand dressed as a man from the movie Yentl. My Elvis deconstructs definitions of gender and beauty within the Jewish community. 24 The artists of Too Jewish? struggled with questions of where their own Jewish identity fit within the greater Jewish community, from religious laws dictating who is and isn’t Jewish, to personal definitions of Jewishness. “In probing the Jewish aspect of their subjectivity, the artists in Too Jewish? open themselves to complex identities. They explore the specific and various ethnic, cultural and religious aspects of their Jewishness within the already established sexual, gender and political diversities in contemporary discourse.” 30 Examining the many ways in which Jewish identity is defined and performed both within and outside the Jewish community, the very question posed by the exhibition, Too Jewish,? presumes the participation of an informed, insider—that is, Jewish—audience. Pareve Venus, a work by Hannah Wilke, is an example of the important role personal identification with Judaism plays in the viewer’s experience. (Fig. 7) 30 Norman L. Kleebatt, ed. Too Jewish?: Challenging Traditional Identities. New York: Rutgers University Press, 1996, 34. 25 (Figure 7) Hannah Wilke, Pareve Venus, 1982-84, cover of the catalogue from the exhibition, Too Jewish? As a work of conceptual art, Pareve Venus, a group of figures modelled entirely of chocolate representing the Roman goddess of love, parodies the timelessness of classical representations of the female form. As word play, “parvenu,” or “newcomer,” suggests the judgmental regard of a majority culture toward “arrivistes”—in this case, Jews—perhaps even questioning the legitimacy of the Jewish artist’s right to participate in the art world. A third reading of this piece requires an informed understanding of Jewish culture and ritual. The use of the word Pareve, which refers to a food’s “neutrality” in the context of Jewish dietary laws, with the word Venus, the Roman goddess of love, suggests that this iconic object of desire has been made “kosher” for Jewish “consumption.” Further, the viewer’s own relationship to Jewish dietary laws— positive, negative or “pareve”—are also engaged here. 26 Most importantly, the issues raised in Too Jewish? including “… a confrontation of ethnic stereotypes of the Jewish body; a challenge to the absence of Jewish representation in American popular culture and art; and new models for ritual,” effectively served to engage Jewish audiences in an extended conversation about identity. 31 Non-Jewish visitors were assumed to be spectators to that conversation, not active participants in it. This does not mean that temporary exhibitions like Too Jewish? are open only to a Jewish audience. All are welcome to experience the exhibition. An observer without substantial and personal knowledge of Judaism, however, will necessarily have a more passive relationship with the exhibition. THE WARBURG MANSION The Jewish Museum continues to occupy the former Warburg mansion but there have been two major renovations since it opened in 1947. The first accommodated the addition of a contemporary art wing, the List Wing, donated by Albert and Vera List in 1961. An ambitious $36 million renovation, designed by the architect Kevin Roche in 1993, transformed the building from a house displaying collections into a major museum. The entire facility was closed for two and a half years, doubling the gallery space and adding new facilities including an educational center, a café, new offices and more storage space. Despite extensive renovations and additions, however, the Jewish Museum building is still a renovated residence, one large enclosed structure with a single 31 Norman L. Kleebatt, ed. Too Jewish?: Challenging Traditional Identities. New York: Rutgers University Press, 1996, 8. 27 entrance. The museum’s five levels make it a vertical structure rather then a horizontal one. Were it not for the sign displayed outside, the museum, with its galleries, meeting rooms, offices, restaurant and gift shop, would be virtually indistinguishable from the other large residences that line the rest of the street. GOVERNANCE, ORGANIZATION AND SUPPORT The Jewish Museum began the process of formally separating itself from the Jewish Theological Seminary in the mid-1990s. 32 At that time the museum formed its own board, began issuing its own payroll and providing health insurance directly to its employees. The Jewish Museum is currently considered to be under the “auspices” of The Jewish Theological Seminary, an imprecise characterization of their relationship. Members of the Seminary still sit on the museum board of trustees, and the two institutions remain closely associated with one another. 33 To further illustrate the complex nature of the museum’s relationship with its founding institution, the Seminary still owns the Warburg mansion, however, it is the responsibility of the Museum to maintain and preserve the collection and the building.” 34 Relying on a traditional non- profit organizational structure, the museum is governed by a 22-member board of 32 According to The Jewish Museum’s 2004 tax returns (990 Form), the most current tax return available to the public. 33 According to legal filings, “The [Jewish] Museum was created as a separate legal entity in 1952; however, the Museum has retained an affiliation with The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (the Seminary), its founding organization.” (p. 7 2004 JM 990 Form) 34 In 1947, [The Jewish] Museum operations were moved to the Warburg Mansion… which is owned by [The Jewish Theological] Seminary and leased at an annual rate of $1.00 to the Museum. (p. 7 2003 JM 990 Form) 28 trustees, and the professional staff is led by a director and a COO, both of whom serve as Ex-Officio members of the board. 35 According to the Jewish Museum’s tax filings for the past five years the institution has been receiving an average the $13.2 million in gifts, grants and other general contributions. 36 The Museum also receives about $900,000 in memberships fees annually, which has stayed at about 6% of its overall operating budget during the past few years. The Jewish Museum’s Report of the Director 2003- 2005 states, “in fiscal 2005, more than 14,000 individuals contributed an aggregate of nearly $9 million- fully 67% of the Museum’s operating budget.” 37 According to the same report, the Museum currently has a $65 million endowment. The Museum is also extremely successful with fundraising events like the Centennial Ball, which raised $1.6 million in March of 2004. EXPLORING THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE Many of the programs offered at the Jewish Museum are meant to encourage visitors to “explore the galleries and discover the many treasures of the Museum's collection… ” 38 Sunday School and other school programs focus on concepts devoted to 35 List of offices, directors, trustees and key employees: Director (Joan Rosenbaum), Deputy Director’s (Ruth Beesch and Lynn Thommen) COO (Mary Wailing), Chairman (Leni May), President (Barry J. Alperin), Vice Chair’s (Benjamin Winter, Betty Levin and Jeanette Lerman), Secretary (Lynn Tobias), Treasurer (James Stern), Assistant Treasurers (Robert Pruzan and Phyllis Mack), and twenty two Board Members. 36 According to their Income tax report, The Jewish Museum has received an average of $300,000 over the past five years from government grants. (p. 1-3 2004 JM 990 Form) 37 (p. 1 2005 JM 990 Form) 29 an understanding of the scope and diversity of 4,000 years of Jewish art and culture. School tours introduce all students to the museum's permanent collection, while fulfilling New York State Learning Standards. The museum offers many more public programs and events that cater to an adult, largely Jewish, audience. For example, the museum hosts the annual New York Jewish Film Festival, featuring films that “… celebrate the Jewish experience.” 39 The Museum also presents lectures and performances throughout the year featuring prominent Jewish artists. For example, in Feburary 2008, Tom Sokolowski presented a lecture analyzing Andy Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century placing these paintings in a historical context, and relating this series to Warhol’s other works. A JEWISH PUBLIC Continuing to draw inspiration from its founding principles while consciously existing in the present day, the Jewish Museum devotes its curatorial, educational and programming resources to issues that are of primary interest and concern to Jewish- identified visitors, but also welcomes visitors of other religious backgrounds. According to Rose Greenstein, the Marketing Coordinator of The Jewish Museum, between 186,000 and 200,000 people have consistently visited The Jewish Museum each year between 2000 and 2005. Greenstein also stated that currently 65% of the 38 Herbert Muschamp, “Jewish Museum Renovation: A Celebration of Gothic Style.” New York Times (June 11, 1993) Review/Architecture. 39 Ibid. 30 Museum’s visitors are Jewish and the other 35% represent all other religious affiliations. 40 The Museum is open on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) and a holy day of rest for observant Jews. Care is taken to respect the many rules that dictate traditional Shabbat observances that include prohibitions against using machinery, turning on lights and exchanging money. As such, the museum does not charge admission on Saturday. Anything in the building that requires electricity, including all mechanical systems such as lights and climate controls, as well as anything electronic that may be featured in the galleries is left on before the start of Shabbat at sundown on Friday and remains on until Shabbat ends at sundown on Saturday. The museum does not have Shabbat elevators (elevators pre-programmed to stop at every floor) but the entire building is accessible by stairs. The museum thus honors Jewish cultural and religious tradition while remaining open to the secular world. Providing a forum for the public, both Jews and non-Jews alike to encounter and learn about material Jewish culture and history, the museum continues to fulfill its original mission while also acknowledging the need for certain types of change. Contemporary artwork is frequently added to the collection, and the exhibition program often includes contemporary art. Unlike the museum’s more progressive period during the 1960s, however, every work acquisition is required to have some Jewish content, and all exhibitions must address Jewish themes. “[Jewish] survival as a people is dependent upon both the continuity of Jewish ideas and values, and the flexibility to 40 Greenstein, Rose. Personal E-mail. 20 Apr. 2007. For context, it should be noted that Jews comprise 9.3% of the population of the New York metropolitan area and 2.1% of the o United States population. 31 adapt to changing circumstances,” so too must the Jewish Museum. 41 Ever mindful of the fine line between acclimation and assimilation, the Jewish Museum continues to struggle, much like the Jewish people themselves, with finding a balance between maintaining Jewish tradition in the midst of a non-Jewish majority culture. 41 The Jewish Museum in New York http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/ 32 CHAPTER 3: THE HISTORY, COLLECTION AND PROGRAMS OF THE SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER The path that led to what would ultimately become the Skirball Cultural Center (SCC) in Los Angeles began two thousand miles away in the library of Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College (HUC) is “the educational and intellectual center of Reform Judaism.” 42 Like the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), its Conservative movement counterpart in New York, HUC was founded on the principles of Wissenschaft des Judentums, the rational or “scientific” approach to Jewish studies. Unlike JTS, however, the faculty at HUC always regarded the study of Judaica as integral to the seminary’s rationalist approach to Jewish learning, and from its earliest days welcomed donations of both ceremonial objects and books. The great waves of immigration during the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries brought many Eastern European Jews to America where they experienced an unprecedented level of social, economic and religious freedom—freedom from religion as much as of religion. For immigrants eager to assimilate, that often meant discarding ritual observance—and the ceremonial objects associated with them. Recognizing that a significant piece of their heritage was being lost, a group from the National Foundation of Temple Sisterhoods (NFTS), a Jewish women’s service organization affiliated with the Reform movement, proposed to establish a “National Museum for 42 Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion http://www.huc.edu/ 33 Jewish Ceremonial Objects.” 43 The group undertook a campaign to save these objects before they were lost to history forever, and in 1913 the “Union Museum,” housed in HUC’s nascent library, became the first formally established Jewish museum in America. In 1915 the Temple Sisterhood through a Union Museum newsletter publication announced, “Many objects that were held in high esteem by those who were familiar with their use are today to be found hidden in garrets. You can redeem them from this oblivion by presenting them to the [Union] Museum.” 44 Donations were added to the original collection and displayed in the museum. Accessible to seminary students and faculty, the collection was integral to the seminary’s curriculum. During the following decade, under the leadership of HUC librarian Adolph Oko, three major European collections were acquired by the museum: in 1921, the Joseph Hamburger collection of coins and medals, and in 1924, the collections of Israel Solomons and Dr. Louis Grossman. Nevertheless, the museum’s permanent collection remained quite modest until 1926 when HUC purchased a private collection consisting of 6,174 objects from the Berlin businessman, Salli Kirschstein. With no single patron to underwrite this important acquisition, Oko initiated a nationwide, but Jewish centered, fundraising campaign and within a year raised enough money to buy the collection. It should be noted that this was a fairly new model of fundraising at the time. 43 Grace C. Grossman, Grace C. ed. New Beginnings: The Skirball Museum Collections and Inaugural Exhibition. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996, 19. 44 Grace C. Grossman, Jewish Museums of the World. Westport, Connecticut: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 2003, 273. 34 The museum’s growing collection continued to serve the educational needs of the institute’s rabbinical students and other scholars “who would distill the essence from the objects for the sake of increased knowledge.” 45 Viewing the collection as an essential cornerstone of Jewish studies, Oko wrote with notable pride, “There have been brought to America all of the important collections of Judaica which exist in the world… the student who would delve into any phase of Jewish history can find unequaled opportunity for research here… the center of Jewish culture has crossed the sea; now for the first time, the whole story of the Jews’ culture and religious history can be written.” 46 Clearly sharing Oko’s view, college president Julian Morgenstern spoke in 1926 of the Museum as “unique in American Jewry and as invaluable for historical and ritualistic research in the science of Judaism… In other words, the collecting and research of objects for scholarly purposes was deemed fully congruent with the academic agenda and pedagogic style of Hebrew Union College.” 47 The museum hired its first professional curator, Dr. Franz Landsberger, in the 1940s through an exile program for European Jewish scholars displaced by the war. Landsberger had served as director of the Berlin Jewish Museum before the Nazis came to power and he was forced to resign. Sponsored by HUC, Landsberger was able to immigrate to the United States and take up his post as curator of the Union Museum’s significant, collection of Jewish objects. 45 Grace C. Grossman, Grace C. ed. New beginnings: The Skirball Museum collections and inaugural exhibition. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996, 22. 46 Ibid. 47 Ibid. 35 During his time at the Union Museum, Landsberger was a very active participant with The Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, an organization founded to locate and redistribute Judaica and Jewish art objects that had been confiscated by the Nazis. Landsberger was instrumental in getting many Jewish objects out of Nazi Europe and to America where they could be properly preserved at the Union Museum. In fact, he was able to gather many key paintings, which were once stored at the Jewish Museum of Berlin, where he served as director during the 1930s. During the next ten years, Dr. Landsberger reorganized the collection to make it more accessible to both visiting scholars and students of the Seminary. He strengthened the Museum’s efforts in research and preservation, and produced scholarly publications about the collection, including A History of Jewish Art in 1946, the first book of its kind written in English. HUC’s merger with the Jewish Institute of Religion in 1950 created a larger institution (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, or HUC-JIR) with two campuses, one in Cincinnati and a second in New York. In 1954 a third HUC-JIR campus was established, in Los Angeles in Beverly Hills, California, to serve the growing numbers of Reform Jews on the West Coast. The Union Museum remained at the Cincinnati campus, however, and continued to serve as a valued resource for students, faculty and visiting scholars. 36 BIRTH OF A MUSEUM When the Los Angeles campus of HUC moved from the Appian Way property in Beverly Hills to a larger building at 3077 University Avenue near downtown in 1971, the Union Museum’s permanent collection moved from Cincinnati to Los Angeles where it was housed in the new HUC-JIR facility. The decision to move the museum and the bulk of its collection to Los Angeles was spearheaded by the National Museum Committee of the Hebrew Union College Board of Governors and supported by HUC president Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk. The cost of relocating the museum to the Los Angeles campus was underwritten by Board of Governors chairman, Jack Skirball, who had also been instrumental both strategically and financially to the founding of the Los Angeles campus 20 years earlier. It was Jack Skirball’s vision that would ultimately lead to the transformation of the Union Museum’s Judaica study collection into a world-class cultural center celebrating both 4,000 years of Jewish history and American democratic ideals. Born in 1896 in Homestead, Pennsylvania, Jack Skirball was an alumnus of Hebrew Union College where he was ordained as a rabbi in 1921. After working for several years as a congregational rabbi in the Midwest, Skirball moved to Los Angeles in 1933 with an interest in joining the movie industry. Having produced the high profile Birth of a Baby, an educational film and the first to show a live human birth, Skirball eventually established his own production studio, Skirball Productions, where he produced, among other feature films, Hitchcock’s Saboteur. In the early 1950’s, Skirball became a real estate developer, effectively launching a third successful career. 37 Throughout his life, however, and regardless of his other interests and commitments, Skirball remained active in the Reform movement and a financial supporter of HUC. The move in 1971 from HUC’s original Cincinnati campus to its new Los Angeles campus brought several significant changes for the museum. With a new location came a new mission, a new audience, even a new name. The “Union Museum” became the “Skirball Museum” and in a dramatic shift the museum turned its attention away from the needs of scholarly researchers and toward the interests of the general public. For the first time in its history the museum reached outside the Seminary’s institutional walls and invited “other” people to learn about Jewish culture. People not explicitly associated with the institution or even with Judaism were actively encouraged to come and experience the museum: “Serving an ever-growing public was what the Skirball Museum understood as its expanded mission during the 1970s and 1980s.” 48 The museum was becoming a place for people to learn about a culture other then their own. In Cincinnati, dedicated to meeting the needs of the HUC community rather than the general public, the Union Museum was never under pressure to grow its audience. The Skirball Museum’s new mission to welcome and educate all visitors, Jews and non- Jews alike, however, required a new approach to exhibition programming and museum education. When the collection was moved to the new Skirball Museum at the Los Angeles campus in 1972 it was placed under the direction of Nancy Berman. Managing a small 48 Grace C. Grossman, ed. New beginnings: The Skirball Museum collections and inaugural exhibition. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996, 25. 38 staff, Berman, a 20-year veteran of the museum world, served as both director and chief curator of the Museum. With limited exhibition space, Berman facilitated approximately 100 temporary exhibitions at the Los Angeles campus. Some of these exhibitions incorporated portions of the museum’s permanent collection, while others showcased material from outside the collection. The exhibitions were varied but always focused on Jewish topics, artists, culture and history, including lesser known material. For example, the exhibition, The Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art in 1986, explored the work Jewish folk artists. A retrospective of Peter Krasnow’s work in 1978 introduced visitors to a Russian-born artist who worked in several media including sculpture and painting and in multiple styles, from representational to abstraction. In the following years, the leadership of HUC, supported by the vision of Jack Skirball, began to identify an even more ambitious goal: establishing a cultural center in Los Angeles with a focus on American Jewish life. Not surprisingly, Jack Skirball provided both the strategic and financial leadership needed to support that goal. He also played a key role in securing land for the new facility. An important figure at HUC with whom Skirball shared both his commitment to cultural diversity and his vision for a cultural center was Uri D. Herscher. Ordained as a rabbi at Hebrew Union College in 1970 and having also received a Doctorate in American Jewish History from the College in 1973, Herscher was serving as Executive Vice President and Dean of Faculty at HUC-JIR when he and Jack Skirball began formulating plans for a center that would serve as a place for all people to come together regardless of their cultural backgrounds. 39 The years during which Skirball and Herscher were planning their cultural center was a time of tremendous growth for the Los Angeles area. Along with Americans from other regions of the country, immigrants from around the world, but especially from Asia, Mexico and Latin America, were beginning to find their way to Southern California. Between 1970 and 1990, the Los Angeles metropolitan area grew by 394 square miles and the population increased by 3.1 million residents. Skirball and Herscher’s goal of bringing diverse groups together to celebrate what they have in common became both more urgent and more complex. The 1992 riots in South Central Los Angeles, along with increasing tensions over immigration, created fragile relationships between the many different groups that were living in the Los Angeles area, underscored Herscher’s resolve to realize their vision of a multicultural place for gathering and learning. The Skirball Foundation provided the initial funding for the project in 1983. At the time of Jack Skirball’s death in 1985, plans for a cultural center were firmly in hand, and The Skirball Cultural Center opened in 1996. (Fig 8) At that time, Dr. Herscher was named founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the Skirball Cultural Center, an entity affiliated with, but independent of, HUC-JIR. 40 (Figure 8) Skirball Cultural Center, Dr. Herscher has written extensively on U.S. Jewish immigration and the sociology of American Jewish life, topics that are central to the Skirball’s mission as a place where people of all backgrounds can come together and “… continue building a society in which all of us can feel at home.” 49 An immigrant himself, having moved to California from Israel at the age of thirteen, Herscher speaks from experience when he writes of the Skirball, “… we help you understand how important your own culture and its traditions are in American Life.” 50 With a permanent exhibition featuring objects from the collection, temporary exhibitions and an extensive education program, the Skirball Museum is the centerpiece of the SCC but is by no means its only source of public programming. Performances, lectures and concerts; cafes and gift shops; special events facilities and a beautiful landscape all draw visitors to the SCC. The sprawling campus itself, designed by 49 Ibid. 50 Shelly Kale, ed. A Suitcase of Dreams: Immigration Stories from the Skirball Cultural Center. Los Angeles: The Skirball Cultural Center, 2001, 3. 41 architect Moshe Safdie, exemplifies the SCC’s mission by encouraging all visitors to, quite literally, enjoy the rewards of sharing an open environment. 51 CELEBRATING THE FUTURE The Skirball Museum collection is owned by Hebrew Union College and currently consists of “approximately 25,000 archaeological artifacts, paintings, sculptures, photographs, manuscripts, decorative arts, prints, drawings and folk art illuminating 4,000 years of Jewish history and culture.” 52 Significantly, a large number of these objects came to the collection through an initiative known as Project Americana, a focused effort in the 1980s to augment the collection with objects that would document the “everyday life of ordinary people in the United States since the 1850s.” 53 The HUC collection, predominantly European in origin, did not fully support the new institution’s broader mission of creating a bridge between cultures. The objects collected through Project Americana, however, enabled the Museum to explore the American Jewish experience. Including many common secular household items such as 51 The HUC Cincinnati branch currently has a museum on their campus, which is called the HUC-Skirball Museum. Its permanent collection focuses on of Jewish archaeological artifacts, specifically ceremonial and ritual objects from Jerusalem. There is also a museum located at the HUC in Jerusalem called The Skirball Center for Biblical and Archaeological Research which focuses on the restoration Jewish artifacts and the preparation of archaeological publications. The HUC campus in Los Angles has retained very little of it former permanent collection, that is, the collection that was moved to the Skirball Cultural Center in the 1990s. However, despite this, small temporary exhibitions are still shown in the building from time to time. 52 Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion http://www.huc.edu/ 53 The Skirball Cultural Center http://www.skirball.org/ 42 kitchenware and suitcases, the Project Americana collection “… mirrors the experience of every American who has brought an ancestral culture to a new home.” 54 Project Americana also brought more contemporary Jewish ceremonial objects to the collection, in many cases traditional objects embellished with American iconography. Combining the pride of Jewish history evoked by every menorah with pride in American history, a Hanukkah lamp created in 1986 exemplifies both Project Americana’s goals and the Skirball’s vision. (Fig. 9) Commemorating the Statue of Liberty’s centennial in 1986, the lamp features nine Lady Liberty statuettes placed on top of a traditional Polish Hanukkah lamp, each recognizing a specific event in Jewish history: the Exodus from Egypt, Babylonian Exile, Judah and the Maccabees, the revolts against Rome and Galut, Herzl Zionist Congress Basel, The Holocaust, the founding of the State of Israel. Pride of place on the lamp’s center branch (in Hebrew, the “Shamash,” or leader) is given to the figure representing the Statue of Liberty’s centennial. 55 54 Grace Grossman and Robert Kirschner, ed. Visions & Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America. Los Angeles: Perpetus Press. 1996, 5. 55 Ibid. 43 (Figure 9) Manfred Anson, Statue of Liberty Hanukkah Lamp, 1985. JEWISH VALUES Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America, is the Skirball Museum’s permanent exhibition. Following a four-minute video that establishes the exhibition’s central themes, the exhibition unfolds in three parts: “Journeys,” describing Jewish migration and Jewish life in many parts of the world throughout history, is followed by “Holidays” and “Life Cycles” which serve to acquaint visitors with how Jews pray, celebrate and mourn. The content of the introductory video signals not only the exhibition’s general message but also the entire institution’s intentions. Encouraging visitors of all backgrounds and beliefs to discover similarities between their own history and the 44 history of the Jewish people, Visions and Values promotes inclusiveness. Beginning with the video, visitors are reminded that although the story told here is the history of a particular people, it is a story with resonance for all Americans. Noting, for example, similarities between ideals expressed in both the Torah and the Declaration of Independence, the exhibit draws parallels between Jewish principles and American democratic ideals. The video’s message is intended for all visitors, non-Jewish and Jewish, reflecting the belief that it is just as important for Jews to realize how much they have in common with everyone else as it is for everyone else to recognize what they share with Jews. The Skirball website says, ”Travel through the many lands where Jews have lived…and discover how the visions of our ancestors helped shape our values today.” 56 After watching the video, visitors proceed to the first section of Visions and Values. Telling stories of Jewish migration throughout history, “Journeys” uses maps and wall text to chart the routes Jews took from one country or region of the world to the next, while Judaica from the permanent collection illustrates how differently groups of Jews lived, and to some degree practiced their Judaism, around the world. Challenging the more monolithic or “typical” reading of Jewish history, this section also documents cultural differences that have always existed within the Jewish community itself. In a significant departure from conventional presentations of Jewish history, there is no discussion of why the Jews traveled to or from a particular destination. With a single exception, the Spanish Inquisition, key facts that would introduce the more 56 The Skirball Cultural Center http://www.skirball.org/ 45 tragic aspects of Jewish history are omitted from the narrative. It is important to note that this less conventional scripting of Jewish history is achieved not with false or misleading information (or with new information informing an alternate reading of these events) but rather through a pattern of omission. By sacrificing the particular in favor of the universal, the exhibit supports the SCC’s commitment to creating common ground among people of different backgrounds and experiences. Conceived as an interactive environment in which visitors of all ages, and especially children, can have fun while learning, the SCC’s newest project, Noah’s Ark, is a permanent installation that fills an 8,000 square foot gallery space. Inspired by the biblical story, the exhibition comprises one large wooden ark filled with “animals” made out of all different kinds of recycled materials. Visitors are encouraged to explore the entire ark and its many objects, all of which can be touched, handled and climbed on, making it very attractive not only to curious children but to people of all ages. (Fig. 10) (Figure 10) Noah’s Ark http://www.skirball.org 46 Inspired by the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, Hebrew for “repair the world,” the exhibition cleverly integrates a popular biblical story with an underlying message of environmental consciousness. According to community relations director Sylvia Bernstein-Tregub: The new permanent interactive exhibition Noah’s Ark at the Skirball … has already given us the opportunity to reach out to additional diverse audiences. Educators and community and faith-based leaders from across the spectrum have visited and will return with their constituencies, assuring that the Skirball Cultural Center continues to achieve its mission goal as we aspire to build a society in which all of us can feel at home. 57 ALL THE PEOPLE Of All The People In All The World, a project of the British theater company, Stan’s Café, first appeared at the Skirball Museum from September 26 – October 1, 2006 and, because of its popularity, on a number of subsequent occasions. (Fig. 9) In both form and content, Of All the People… exemplifies the Skirball’s mission, vision and methods. Typical of the Skirball’s “porous borders” approach to programming, Of All the People…, part installation project, part performance art, translates the abstraction of often overwhelming human statistics into concrete form, in an effort to bring meaning to concepts that are often beyond human comprehension. 57 Bernstein-Tregub, Sylvia. Personal E-mail. 9 May. 2007. 47 (Figure 11) Of All the People of All the World by Stan’s Café theatre Company, 2006. Beginning with 150 piles of rice in which each grain represents a single human being, five performance artists meticulously measure and weigh the rice to create new piles representing various statistics concerning human activity. Although every performance unfolds according to a scripted process, the choice of which statistics to explore is influenced by the installation’s location and venue. Invited to interact with the artists as they measure and weigh the rice, audiences at each performance further define the ideas explored in each installation. When performed in Europe the exhibition has included juxtapositions of the number of people who live in Poland with the number of people who eat at McDonald’s; at the Skirball the exhibition displayed the number of people who watched the last episode of the TV show Cheers and the number of people who have walked on the moon, among other statistics. Not unexpectedly, it also included six million grains of rice representing the number of Jews killed during the Holocaust. 48 Many of the Skirball’s exhibitions possess an interactive element, and Of All The People in All The World was no exception. All visitors, young and old, were encouraged to interact with the artists/performers. Audience members were welcome to ask questions and offer suggestions to the artists on what the next pile of rice should represent. The artists also conducted workshops for local elementary and middle school students. The workshops began with each student receiving a single grain of rice “… that represents themselves in the context of the millions of others.” 58 This exhibition is a perfect example of the interactive and participatory nature of the Skirball’s exhibitions. At the Skirball, every exhibit contains some element of Judaism, although that element is more likely to be conceptual rather than overt, for example, an expression of a Jewish value or ethical standard as opposed to an aspect of Jewish history or ritual. In a recent interview, Dr. Barbara Gilbert, a former curator of temporary exhibitions at the Skirball, stated: Every exhibition that the Skirball Cultural Center presents deals with Jewish ideas and/or values, even if the subject itself does not seem overtly Jewish. Our recent photography exhibition on the situation of the people in Darfur stems from the overriding Jewish principle that we are responsible for people in need, whoever and wherever they might be. Another example would be the exhibition LA River Reborn an exhibit about the desire to renew and revive the river; this too comes from our responsibility to care for the environment - a concept that also finds its basis in Jewish law. …Our temporary exhibition program is quite varied but is always based on Jewish sensibilities and linked to the mission of the institution. 59 58 The Skirball Cultural Center http://www.skirball.org/ 59 Gilbert, Barbara. Personal E-mail. 20 May. 2007 49 Regardless of the topic, Gilbert argues, behind every exhibition at the Skirball there is a Jewish idea and/or value. The social importance of each topic and how powerfully it resonates with their visitors, a multicultural public, is integral to the Skirball’s mission. THE CAMPUS It is often said that a museum is only as good as its collection and the SCC’s permanent collection is among the best of its kind in terms of size, range and quality. However, the Skirball Museum, which houses the collection, is merely one of many facilities located on the Skirball Cultural Center campus. Mirroring the pluralism of American society, the SCC is comprised of many different parts, each with its own focus—a museum exploring the visual arts, a theater to present the performing arts, a lecture program offering adult learning, all located within an open campus. While they all serve the same overarching mission, to create a place for people of all backgrounds to seek understanding and celebrate the American experience, together, they are “… exploring the complex nature of American Jewish life in the context of American society as a whole.” 60 Designed by Israeli-born architect Moshe Safdie, the Skirball Cultural Center is located in the Santa Monica Mountains. The SCC campus, with 450,000 square feet of built space on 15 acres, was conceived as an oasis in the urban sprawl of Los Angeles, designed to make the visitor feel comfortable staying for a long period of time. It was 60 Grace C. Grossman, ed. New beginnings: The Skirball Museum collections and inaugural exhibition. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996, 11. 50 the SCC’s goal to create an environment where large groups of people were able to visit at one time and together experience all the services the institution offers. There are many public programs such as music performances, talks with artists, theatre, cinema screenings, lectures, concerts and educational tours. The school outreach program is a major aspect of the Skirball’s programming efforts, reaching thousands of school groups each year. The Skirball Museum, at the center of the campus, consists of several galleries totaling 15,000 square feet of exhibition space. Other facilities on campus include The Discovery Center for Children, an auditorium equipped to seat 350 people, an educational center, banquet and classroom facilities. The newly built Ahmanson Hall, a social space, was designed to accommodate banquets of up to 500 people. GOVERNANCE, ORGANIZATION AND SUPPORT According to the Skirball Cultural Center’s most recent tax reports, it has 18 honorary members and 23 active members on the Board of Trustees. 61 As CEO and President of the SCC, Dr. Uri Herscher serves as an Ex-Officio member of the Board and continues to play a large role in fundraising. He also remains a major driving force in day-to-day governance. The Skirball Cultural Center has an endowment of over $100 million along with some government support in the form of grants. It has an annual operating budget 61 2004 Income Tax Returns (Form 990), the most recent return available, there are 18 “Honorary Members”, many of which have passed away; 18 “Trustee’s; 3 “Vice Chairmen” Stanley Shairs, Peter M. Weil, and Lee Ramer; one “Chairman” Howard Friedman; and “President” Dr. Uri Herscher, 41 members on their board in total. However, because there are 18 “Honorary members” there are only 23 active members on the Board of Trustees. 51 averaging $58 million. The Skirball Cultural Center receives about $430,000 in membership fees annually, which is at about 1.3% of its overall operating budget over the past few years. Membership has slowly grown though in recent years. 62 Also, according to Sylvia Bernstein-Tregub, Director of Community Relations of the Skirball Cultural, there have consistently been over the last five years approximately 7,000 visitors who are members of the SCC. EXPLORING THE MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE As it was from its earliest days in Cincinnati, the Skirball Museum is at heart an educational institution. In the past the collection may have been deployed to decode arcane details of Jewish history or ritual practice; in its current manifestation, in 21 st century Los Angeles, the Skirball Cultural Center’s educational mission is both broader and more focused. With a commitment to using Jewish values as an agent of positive change, visitors are encouraged to find common ground consistent with the ethical imperative to make the world a better place. Every exhibition and every public program is regarded as a vehicle for attracting and educating a diverse audience and every effort is made to recognize each visitor’s contribution to the shared American experience. According to their website, the SCC is “dedicated to exploring the connections between the age-old Jewish heritage and 62 The Skirball Cultural Center is “an affiliate of Hebrew Union College. The full name of the museum within the Skirball Cultural Center is “The Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum”. Located on the Hebrew Union College website there is information about the Skirball describing the relationship between the two institutions, as well as a link that connects to the Skirball website. However, on the Skirball website, there is very little mentioned about Hebrew Union College’s relationship with the Skirball Cultural Center. Which may reflect the Skirball’s discomfort of affiliating with an overtly Jewish institution. 52 American democracy. We offer hospitality to every ethnic and cultural identity in American life. Guided by our respective memories, we seek together to continue building a society in which all of us can feel at home.” 63 Howard Gardner’s educational theory, “multiple gateways of learning,” commonly understood as an effort to reach students by delivering a single concept through multiple approaches (visual, kinesthetic, experiential, aural, etc.), allows each student to receive information through the process best suited to his or her learning style. 64 At the Skirball, the “multiple gateways” theory is extended to the content itself. Rather than designing exhibitions to meet the needs of a particular public, the SCC acknowledges that all its visitors come to the museum with varying portfolios of knowledge, experience and questions, and that what each visitor comes to learn is as varied as how each visitor learns it. As a result, every visitor is regarded as having an active role in the learning process and in the exhibition itself. With its vast array of statistics illuminating a vast array of ideas, the temporary exhibition, Of All the People in All the World, insured that virtually every visitor found to engage them. Similarly, Visions and Values, the Skirball’s core exhibition, offers an active role to every visitor. Education is the highest priority for the Skirball Cultural Center and, according to their website, reaching young people is the Skirball Museum’s highest priority. Educating young people is central to the Skirball’s mission. Our pioneering school outreach and our ever-expanding programs for families offer museum and performing arts experiences that celebrate 63 The Skirball Cultural Center http://www.skirball.org/ 64 Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: BasicBooks, 1983. 53 cultural diversity and explore shared values. At the Skirball, we forge connections- among individuals, communities, cultures and ideas. 65 The Skirball's school program serves over 50,000 children and teachers annually, from public, private, and parochial schools. The work of the nationally recognized School Outreach Program, catering to children, is divided into two major categories, gallery programs and performing arts programs. Using resources of the Skirball Museum, the SCC has created interesting and thought-provoking gallery programs for students in grades K-12 since 1996. Most programs provide pre-visit curriculum materials to educators. All programs meet the California State Educational Standards and are designed to be interactive, multidisciplinary, and inquiry-based. One of the more popular programs teaches students about different religions and cultures. The program introduces students to musical instruments and clothing specific to a particular culture or religion. The students are encouraged to play with the different instruments and try on the different styles of clothing. Through this interaction the students learn about different religions and cultures, and also learn about what makes all of them individually special. Tie-Dye Around the World, scheduled for the Spring of 2008, is a new program inspired by the environmental messages of Noah’s Ark. Children will learn eco-friendly techniques for dying fabric while making their own Tie-Dye clothing. The SCC offers many programs for adult audiences, including lectures, readings, classes, theater and music performances. Most of these programs, however, do not take place at the Skirball Museum; rather, they are offered elsewhere on the SCC campus. 65 Ibid. 54 A DIVERSE PUBLIC Over 500,000 people visit the SCC every year. Defining itself as a Jewish institution in an American context, the Skirball Cultural Center strives to build a community inclusive of every ethnic and cultural identity. According to statistics provided by the SCC’s School Outreach Programs, a virtual rainbow of people from different cultures and backgrounds visit the Skirball Cultural Center on a regular basis. Sylvia Bernstein-Tregub, Director of Community Relations of the Skirball Cultural Center, stated the following: Welcoming and inspiring people of every ethnic and cultural identity, as specifically mentioned in the Skirball Cultural Center’s Mission Statement, is the motivating factor that drives all of our community outreach efforts. Reaching the richly diverse Los Angeles community…is a challenge and a goal….The question is always raised…how can we improve our outreach next time? 66 Celebrating American Jewish life while emphasizing the synergies between Jewish values and American ideals, the Skirball Cultural Center seeks to create an environment in which the diversity of American society can be recognized, in which each visitor’s unique story is acknowledged, and at the same time each visitor discovers how much s/he has in common with fellow visitors. 66 Bernstein-Tregub, Sylvia. Personal E-mail. 9 May. 2007. 55 CHAPTER 4: ONE HISTORY, TWO VISIONS Both the Jewish Museum in New York and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles are respected institutions with international reputations as guardians of Jewish patrimony and pride. Yet they have deployed their resources, which include virtually identical collections, to meet the needs of two very different publics. This chapter explores their divergent missions, programs and patronage, which both support, and are a function of, the different publics they have pursued. As the offspring of the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Jewish Museum is affiliated with Judaism’s Conservative movement which in many ways is defined by the tension between adherence to Halakha, the Jewish code of laws, and the pressures of life in the modern world. The tension between tradition and assimilation is also evident at the Jewish Museum, informing the museum’s mission and its relationship to the public. Since the late 1960s, the vast majority of programs and exhibitions at the Jewish Museum have addressed Jewish topics for Jewish audiences. The temporary exhibition, Too Jewish?, discussed earlier in this thesis, is an example of the museum’s commitment to programming for a Jewish public. The success of the exhibition depended on the viewer’s personal relationship with questions of Jewish identity and the experience of balancing tradition and secularism. Although its examination of diversity within Jewish culture, also typical of the Jewish Museum, may have been of interest to all visitors, the Jewish visitors were part of the conversation it provoked; non-Jewish visitors were observers to it. 56 Just as the Conservative movement has shaped the Jewish Museum’s approach to public programming, the imprint of Reform Judaism can clearly be seen at the Skirball Cultural Center. While the Jewish Museum is likely to explore the cultural diversity within Judaism, the Skirball Museum is primarily concerned with how Jewish culture relates to other cultures in America, “the mythic narrative of acculturation without assimilation.” 67 Like the Reform movement, the Skirball Cultural Center is more concerned with how the Jewish people are integrated into the larger society and less concerned with adherence to Jewish law. Respect for Jewish values, however, is integral to all museum exhibitions, as reflected in the temporary exhibition Of All The People In All the World. As previously described, this popular exhibition embodied many elements of the Skirball’s approach to public programming. Because Skirball exhibitions, including its core exhibit, are designed with the assumption that the viewer knows little or nothing about Jewish culture or religion, every visitor is regarded as an active participant in the exhibition, not merely an observer. Although JTS and HUC provided homes for these collections early in their histories, neither Seminary was the primary source of support for its collection nor the sole force that shaped its development. In fact, neither the Jewish Museum nor the Skirball Cultural Center would exist today without the efforts, financial and otherwise, of a handful of supporters from outside the seminary walls whose influence shaped these institutions during their formative years. The financial leadership of donors such as Frieda Warburg and the List family, Harry Friedman’s collecting instincts and Meyer 67 Aviv and David Shneer. New Jews: The End of the Jewish Diaspora. New York: New York University Press, 2005, 100-4. 57 Schapiro’s vision were all instrumental to the Jewish Museum’s development, growth and success. A flourishing Union Museum was enabled by the women of the National Federation of Temple sisterhoods, while its eventual successor, the Skirball Cultural Center, was inspired by Jack Skirball in collaboration with Dr. Uri Herscher. Although Dr. Herscher worked for Hebrew Union College, his contributions to the development of the SCC were not on its behalf. The nature of the two museums’ ties with their founding institutions is also significant. The Jewish Museum has maintained an active, working relationship with the Jewish Theological Seminary. Its building is still owned by JTS and although it has experienced a great deal of change over the years, the permanent collection continues to support the mission originally articulated by JTS when the museum was founded. Whereas the Jewish Museum briefly flirted with a rebellion against the values and goals of its parent institution, the SCC broke away more forthrightly, albeit amicably, from its parent, Hebrew Union College. When the Skirball Cultural Center was founded in the early 1990s, the umbilical cord to HUC was cut, and the goals associated with the HUC collection were abandoned. Although still owned by HUC, the permanent collection currently displayed in the Skirball Cultural Center’s Museum serves a completely different mission than it did when the collection was initially formed, more than one hundred years ago. Differences in the institutions’ facilities reflect essential differences in their missions and approaches to their audiences. Architecturally, the Jewish Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center are almost complete antitheses of each other. The Jewish Museum is a closed building, a renovated mansion transformed into a conventionally 58 styled museum where the visitor enters, spends a few hours wandering from floor to floor and eventually exits the same way he or she came in. Visitors arrive with the sole intention of viewing works of art on exhibit, a convention not challenged by the museum’s design. However unintentional, the building’s verticality—a given in its densely developed urban setting—prevents visitors from interacting with one another in any significant way. Even the relatively small lobby space lacks comfortable furnishings or any other inducement to linger or gather. Just as the Jewish Museum is a perfect example of the conventional museum model, a building that houses objects of worth and whose primary purpose is to display these objects so that visitors can easily observe them, the Skirball Museum, an integral component of the Skirball Cultural Center, is quite literally the next generation of museums. In contrast to the Jewish Museum—formerly, a private residence—where a typical visit is more formal and structured, a visit to the Skirball Museum pushes the boundaries of the museum experience. The SCC campus, open and spread over many acres of land, is designed as an informal gathering place that promotes visitor interaction. Visitors are encouraged to relax, socialize and stay for a variety of activities, including exhibitions at the Skirball Museum, performances in the theater, lectures and classes, or simply to enjoy the landscape. While the Jewish Museum calls to mind the salon atmosphere of the building’s history as a domestic space when conversation was of a more private and exclusive nature, SCC’s open physical plant specifically suggests a public forum, an agora or marketplace of ideas. Neither museum exhibits artwork solely for its aesthetic value. Rather, both the SCC and the Jewish Museum use the visual arts as a vehicle for education. What they choose to teach their 59 visitors, however, reflects differences in their missions. The Jewish Museum tends to present specifically Jewish concepts for the consideration of Jewish audiences. The exhibition program is notably oriented toward adult interests (although there is a small hands-on room with seasonally changing material, often geared toward Jewish holidays, for young children). The museum’s youth classes often include sessions on Jewish ritual and ceremony. The SCC, on the other hand, uses works of art to promote inclusivity, reminding visitors of what they have in common with others. The exhibition program often focuses on educating children with programs that are universal and cross-cultural in nature, like Noah’s Ark. The Jewish Museum’s permanent exhibition presents a fairly detailed narrative of the Jewish journey from ancient times to the present day, with no particular emphasis on any one portion of that journey, but with a sober recognition of the many times that Jews were turned away from a host land. The celebratory tone of the Skirball Cultural Center’s recounting of that same journey, by contrast, emphasizes the triumph of the American experience in the lives of Jews and every other immigrant group and does not include the history of persecution that is a cornerstone of the Jewish Museum’s narrative. Neither permanent exhibition mentions the many other types of Jewish observances and Jewish syncretism that have existed throughout history and seldom mentions the number of people who no longer consider themselves Jewish. By choosing not to address the negative impacts of assimilation and acculturation on the Jewish people, a large portion of Jewish history is withheld by both institutions. 60 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION The histories of the Jewish Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center are inextricably tied to the history of the Jewish people. Both originally “wards” of seminary libraries, the two collections were born of the optimism and anxieties that shaped American and Jewish history in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. The massive influx of immigrants to the United States from Europe during those years brought both the pressures and the opportunities of assimilation, to which both Seminaries responded with a commitment to “the collection, preservation and presentation of Jewish objects.” 68 Consistent with the different perspectives of their parent institutions, however, beginning with their fundamentally different approaches to Judaism, the two museums enacted that commitment in profoundly different ways. The political and social upheavals of the 20 th century further shaped the paths that brought each institution to its current role in the 21 st century. The Jewish Museum may exist today not as a result of, but perhaps in spite of, the Jewish Theological Seminary. From the start, JTS took little interest in its nascent collection of Judaica. With the notable exception of Dr. Adler, virtually every chancellor during the Seminary’s early years either resented the custodial role of caring for a growing collection of Judaica or was indifferent to it. Even Dr. Adler, a man who had a strong museum background, gave only limited support to the cause during his tenure. The museum’s location on the East Coast and specifically in New York was another factor essential to its emergence as a Jewish cultural institution. With a large 68 Nina Cardin and Silverman David, ed. The Seminary at 100: Reflections on the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Conservative Movement. New York: United Synagogue Book Service, 1987, 143. 61 population of Jewish immigrants, many refugees from Nazi Europe, the Seminary’s collection of Judaica and, later, the Jewish Museum, was the beneficiary of the impassioned personal involvement of many influential individuals. The intervention of major donors like the Warburgs and later the Lists pushed the Seminary to develop and present their collection to ever-growing audiences. Rampant anti-Semitism and the rush to assimilate among American Jews during the Jewish Museum’s formative years served to focus its founders’ efforts on the collection and preservation of Jewish objects. But it was cataclysmic external events— World War II, the decimation of Jewish communities throughout Europe and threat of cultural extinction, not to mention the unbearable sense of personal loss—that compelled the Jewish Theological Seminary to more vigorously take up its role as the guardian of Jewish cultural history. The pervasive fear that 5,000 years of history along with millions of individual lives could be lost to memory forever has been a driving force throughout much of the Jewish Museum’s history. Despite, or perhaps because of, a wrenching period of experimentation that attempted to redefine what the institution could do and for whom, the Jewish Museum returned in the late 1960s to its original mission, to collect, preserve and display Jewish material culture. Moreover, the biblical injunction, “Tell your children about it, and let your children tell theirs, and their children the next generation,” (Joel 1:3) that is today inscribed at the entrance to the museum’s core exhibition, is a clear declaration of the museum’s commitment to preserving Jewish culture for a Jewish public, and only secondarily for a secular audience. Although the Jewish Museum’s founders could not have imagined the prosperity and security that would characterize American Jewish life in the 21 st century, 62 many would argue that it was the diligence of the founders’ generation that made such a future possible. While there was significant ambivalence toward the value of Judaica among the early leaders of JTS, Hebrew Union College eagerly embraced the opportunity to collect Judaica and has always viewed its collection as a source of pride. Not merely passive recipients of donated material, HUC actively supported the collaborative efforts of staff and outside groups to build a strong collection. Ideologically comfortable with growth and adaptation, HUC may not have promoted the museum’s transition from a study collection for the benefit of the Seminary’s students and visiting scholars, to a cultural center reaching out to a broader public but it did not inhibit that transformation. Despite dramatic changes in the museum’s location, size and scope, however, the collection’s purpose remains primarily educational. The anxiety that existed for most Jews in the first half of the 20 th century— marked by the destruction of World Wars, shifting borders, and displacement—had largely dissipated by the time the Skirball Cultural Center opened in 1996. The economic engine of the post-war years in the United States benefited many groups including the American Jewish community. Unlike the founders of the Jewish Museum who led the museum during a very dark period in Jewish history, the Skirball’s founders were optimistic and forward-looking as they began to define their mission and audience in the mid 1980s. In the book Visions and Values the author writes: “… the spirit of Jewish creativity, born in the ancient Near East, flourishes in the open society of 63 America.” 69 Absent the persistent shadow of anti-Semitism, the SCC’s founders sought to celebrate their own prosperity and the freedom they felt made such prosperity possible for all Americans. At the same time, Herscher recognized the significant social challenges confronting Los Angeles at the time, including the cultural unrest characterized by the Rodney King riots of 1992 and growing urban sprawl with its attendant atomization of community. Herscher believed in the potential of Jack Skirball’s vision of a Jewish values-based cultural center that would serve as a forum for the promotion of multiculturalism, the mission that continues to guide the SCC. Today, both the Jewish Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center are thriving institutions with well-defined and well-served publics. What’s interesting, however, is that the two institutions and the message each shares with its public are shaped less by their collections—the genesis of each institution—than by the times in which they were created, the geographic area they are in and the organizations that provided them with their earliest support. Despite 5,000 years of history, it would appear that events of the 20 th century, and the institutions’ responses to those events, dominate the conversations with which both the Jewish Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center seek to engage their publics. 69 Grace C. Grossman and Robert Kirschner. ed. Visions & Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America. Los Angeles: Perpetus Press. 1996, 5. 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY Adler, Cyrus. ed. The Jewish Theological Seminary of America: Semi-Centennial Volume. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1939. Aviv and David Shneer. New Jews: The End of the Jewish Diaspora. New York: New York University Press, 2005. Berger, Rosenbaum, and others. Masterworks of The Jewish Museum. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. Bernstein-Tregub, Sylvia. Personal E-mail. 9 May. 2007. Braunstein, Susan. Personal E-mail. 14. May. 2007. Brenson, Michael. “Bringing Fresh Approaches to Ages-Old Jewish Themes.” New York Times (August 3, 1986): Sec 2. P. 27 Cardin, Nina and Silverman David. ed. The Seminary at 100: Reflections on the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Conservative Movement. New York: United Synagogue Book Service, 1987. Crimp, Douglas. On the Museum’s Ruins. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997. Doerfel, Emily. Personal E-mail. 20 Apr. 2007. Duncan, Carol. Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums. London: Routledge, 1995. Elon, Amos. The Pity of it All: A History of Jews in Germany. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2002. Esterow, Milton. “Director of Jewish Museum Quits in Policy Rift.” New York Times (October 25, 1967): 38. Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: BasicBooks, 1983. Gilbert, Barbara. Personal E-mail. 20 May. 2007. Glueck, Grace. “Jewish History, From Hoes to a Lady Liberty Menorah.” New York Times (March 31, 2000) Art Review Greenstein, Rose. Personal E-mail. 20 Apr. 2007. 65 Grossman and Robert Kirschner. ed. Visions & Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America. Los Angeles: Perpetus Press. 1996. Grossman, Grace Cohen. Jewish Museums of the World. Westport, Connecticut: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 2003. Grossman, Grace Cohen. ed. Jewish Art. Connecticut: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1995. Grossman, Grace C. ed. New beginnings: The Skirball Museum collections and inaugural exhibition. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996. Gruber, Levin, and others. Jewish Identity in Contemporary Architecture. Munich: Prestel, 2002. Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion <http://www.huc.edu/> (20 May 2007). Israel, Matthew. “A Magnet for the With-it Kids.” Art in America v. 95 no. 9 (October, 2007): 72-83. The Jewish Museum in New York <http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/> (3 March 2007). The Jewish Theological Seminary of America <http://www.jtsa.edu/> (20 February 2008). Kale, Shelly. ed. A Suitcase of Dreams: Immigration Stories from the Skirball Cultural Center. Los Angeles: The Skirball Cultural Center, 2001. Kleebatt, Norman L. ed. Too Jewish?: Challenging Traditional Identities. New York: Rutgers University Press, 1996. Landsberger, Franz. A History of Jewish Art. Cincinnati: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1946. Mann, Bilski, and others. The Jewish Museum New York. London: Scala Publications, 1993. Mann, Vivian B. Art & Ceremony in Jewish life: Essays in the History of Jewish Art. London: Pindar Press, 2005. Mann, Vivian B. ed. Jewish Texts on the Visual Arts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 66 Muschamp, Herbert. “Jewish Museum Renovation: A Celebration of Gothic Style.” New York Times (June 11, 1993) Review/Architecture. The Museum of Tolerance <http://www.museumoftolerance.com/> (5 May 2007). Musleah, Rahel. “Rethinking Jewish Museums.” Hadassah Magazine (December, 2006): 46-51. Schorsch, Ismar. “The Sacred Cluster: The Core values of Conservative Judaism.” The Jewish Theological Seminary 14 June 2007. <http://www.jtsa.edu/about/cj/sacredcluster.shtml#6> Shepard, Richard. “The Jewish Museum Preparing for a Move West.” New York Times (August 21, 1989): C18. The Skirball Cultural Center <http://www.skirball.org/> (18 April 2007). Wertheimer, Jack ed. The Uses of Tradition: Jewish Continuity in the Modern Era. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992. Wertheimer, Jack ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.1. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997. Wertheimer, Jack ed. Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America v.2. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Inc., 1997. Warburg, Frieda Schiff. Reminiscences of a long life. New York: Thistle Press, 1956. Unknown The Jewish Museum: Inaugural Exhibition. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1948.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Both the Jewish Museum in New York and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles were established with a similar mission: to collect, preserve and display Jewish visual culture. This thesis compares and contrasts the collections, exhibitions, programs and patronage of these two institutions, exploring how they each use their collection to interpret the history of the Jewish people and present that history to their public. This thesis also examines how these two distinct narratives intentionally yield two very different publics: The Jewish Museum public is composed primarily of Jews who are interested in their own culture, while the Skirball Cultural Center targets a multi-cultural American public with little or no background in Judaism.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Drucker, Brett (author)

Core Title Two visions, two publics: the Jewish Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center

School School of Fine Arts

Degree Master of Arts / Master of Public Administration

Degree Program Public Art Studies

Publication Date 04/21/2008

Defense Date 05/01/2008

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Jewish art,OAI-PMH Harvest

Place Name museum buildings: Jewish Museum New York (geographic subject), museum buildings: Skirball Cultural Center (geographic subject)

Language English

Advisor Moss, Karen (committee chair), Benson, Melissa (committee member), Decter, Joshua (committee member)

Creator Email drucker@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m1173

Unique identifier UC1171820

Identifier etd-Drucker-20080421 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-60396 (legacy record id),usctheses-m1173 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Drucker-20080421.pdf

Dmrecord 60396

Document Type Thesis

Rights Drucker, Brett

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu