The Transformative Power of the Arts

by Laura Dorf Queller, Vice President, Communications and Marketing

In the previous issue of our Women’s Philanthropy eNewsletter, I quoted Larry Rein, chairman of the JCC MetroWest’s Board of Trustees, who referred to programs that nourish “the body, mind, and soul.” We now will focus on the soul. In our own local communities and as far away as the Negev in Israel, Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ supports programs that enrich people’s lives through the arts. With hands-on opportunities such as painting classes and sculpting lessons, and with art appreciation outlets such as concerts, films, and theater, exposure to the arts can be transformative, leading to personal fulfillment as well as increased social connections.

This edition highlights some of the varied arts enrichment opportunities available in our Greater MetroWest community and within two of our Federation-supported Israeli partner cities, Arad and Ofakim. In some instances, the arts programs contain Jewish content, like the Purim puppet show in Montclair that led Naz Singh to discover her Jewish heritage, which had been hidden from her as a child growing up in Iran. In other cases, such as an adult painting course at the JCC of Central NJ, there may not be specific Jewish content within the class, open to Jews and non-Jews alike, but the session is offered at a facility that serves the Jewish community, where art classes are seen as vital to human enrichment and engagement. When I visited the WAE Center, an arts learning center established through the Jewish Service for the Developmentally Disabled, I learned that the center welcomes a diverse population, but it operates within a framework of Jewish values, and the “J” is incorporated in everything they do. 

Funding for the arts is often threatened, as art programs can be seen as superfluous. But a common thread running through the articles in this e-newsletter is that art can provide the essential vehicle through which individuals grow, flourish, and connect with one another within communities. The New Jersey artists who spent a week on an arts exchange program in Arad returned home with more than just artwork; they came back with lasting relationships organically formed with their Israeli counterparts in the Negev. And for an at-risk child in Ofakim who gained self-esteem through the mentorship of a caring art teacher, and a developmentally disabled adult who acquired a sense of purpose through the professional-level paintings he created at the WAE Center, exposure to art is truly life-changing.