Eternal Yitzhak
Oil, 36x48
Jewish
Federation of Northwest Indiana acquires ‘Eternal Yitzhak’
By
Nancy Coltun Webster
“Eternal Yitzhak” an oil on canvas
painting created by Bonny Leibowitz for the 2005 Yitzhak Arts
Gathering in the Western Galillee will make its permanent home in
the Bernard & Estelle Marcus Jewish Federation Community Building.
The painting, featured on the
Federation’s Yitzhak promotional brochure, also appeared at the
Project Yitzhak exhibit in Munster at the Center for Visual and
Performing Arts last July and August and then toured Partnership
2000 cities in the U.S.
The work is the artist’s personal
exploration of the depth of Jewish spirituality from “B’rei-shit”
to current events. “I tried to take [Old Testament] verses that
refer to Yitzhak and understand who we are and why we were given
this nation and what our covenant with G-d is and our commitment
to G-d is as a people,” she said. Ms. Leibowitz has a studio in
Richardson, Texas, near Dallas.
Ms. Leibowitz doesn't consider
herself to be a specifically Judaic artist, but says her paintings
express an interconnectedness of life’s experiences, a soulful
presence and an evolution into the deepening spiritual self. Her
work on “Eternal Yitzhak” did influence other pieces she did
during that same time.
Ms. Leibowitz is creating a new
body of work to be on display in November 2007 at Norwood Flynn, a
Dallas gallery.
When she first learned of the
Project Yitzhak Exhibit, she was intrigued. The project was
coordinated and chaired by her friend, Renee Stanley of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Dallas’ Partnership with Israel program
“I went with the group to Israel
[for Yitzhak Arts Gathering in summer 2005], It was an absolutely
amazing experience,” she says of her first trip to Israel. “We
stayed in Akko. We got close to the border near Lebanon and met
some interesting people there.”
Since her trip to Israel, her
22-year-old son has made Aliyah and teaches English in Jerusalem.
She’s pleased her work will make
its home in Munster.
“I want to thank Michael
[Steinberg] for his interest and excitement for the work and for
making this acquisition for the Federation possible by supporting
and promoting the idea to the board,” she says.
"Reprinted from the Illiana News with permission of the Jewish
Federation of Northwest Indiana."
