The Rosh Hashanah art work that was made in the Art Program of the Jacques C. Shure Religious School began as a simple bulletin board.  I felt that our new principal, Jodi Buck and Rabbi Rossel needed a ready reference to connect the names with the faces of the kids at school.  It evolved to be a very large (3' x 5') Rosh Hashanah card from the Religious School to the Congregation.

 

The work developed in idea and form.  Since the holiday at hand is the New Year, the design went from a simple garden to a garden with an apple tree.  Faces of the children in flowers ("When faces called flowers float out of the ground..." c.c. cummings) were extended to be different flowers for different grade levels and faces on apples in the tree.

The bulletin board became an independant structured board on a frame so we could hang it for everyone to see upon entereing the foyer of the temple.  The sun's rays were a perfect spot for our youngest childrens' hands giving us a touch of the childrenn's actual scale and their handwrithing with thier photographs.

There needed to be some element of what the older kids would like, in my experience older kids like the surrealism - the juxtaposition of the unexpected next to each other.  We can be released from the laws of gravity and logic here.  Figures can be the size of flowers; young men can fly in the sky.  Daniel and Daniel can dance on the rays of the sun while Josh is flying (can you see him witout thinking of Chagall!) pulling along the New Year's Greeting in Hebrew behind him: La'Shanah Tovah Tikutavu!

The photographers and computer folks that worked to make this a reality are: J.J. Kaiser, Steve and Amy Fintel, Gary Kimball, Hillary Volkman, Marilyn Katz, Andrew Gamson and Adrienne Feinberg.  I want to thank Jodi Buck for her creative input, Sharon Natenberg for her camera and her consistent support.  For finishing touches I appreciate the hours of cutting and pasting of several assistants: Susan Goldberg, Adrienne Feinberg and Jordan Fisher. The teachers of this school are wonderful for their flexibility in scheduling and their support of the art program.  I thank them.

To the Congregation from the Children of the Religious School, I say: "Happy 5766!"