Nxria.•
STUDIO

her love of clay, Ms. Hartman re-
turned to her passion — figura-
tive sculpture. Her subsequent
sculptures of Lilith and Eve
marked the beginning of her pil-
grimage to meet the women of
the Torah.
"These stories triggered my
imagination," Ms. Hartman said.
"I wanted these people to be more
real to me and to make them
come to life." Like an actor climb-
ing into character, Ms. Hartman
found herself reliving the deep
emotions of her subjects. She
spent her time consoling Judith,
Ruth and Naomi, and opening her
heart to the devastated Dinah.
Collectively, Ms. Hartman's
sculptures show a range of emo-
tion — from the naive bewilder-
ment of Rebekah to the
resignation of Eve. But perhaps
most striking is the intimacy by
which the sculptures were guid-
ed. The particular gesture of each
piece was wrought from an in-
tense and passionate confronta-
tion among artist, clay and
biblical passage as Ms. Hartman
sought to portray the "defining
dramatic moment" of each
woman's life.
"Lot's Wife" is portrayed the in-
stant after she looks back — al-
though warned not to — but an
instant before she's turned into a
pillar of salt. And, the grievously
distressed Dinah is shown the
moment she hears of the murders
of her children. In "Dinah," Ms.
Hartman creates a visage ex-
ploding with indignation, rage
and utter shock on the verge of
burning up from incendiary right-

eousness. It was, Ms. Hartman
said, the most painful piece to cre-
ate in the exhibit.
The exhibit is installed in the
Shapero Gallery at Temple Beth
El, redesigned by Curator Ellen
Jacobowitz to accommodate var-
ious display cases and pedestals.
"Sarah's figures are elegant,
dignified women who paid high
tribute to their Jewish back-
ground, and they deserve an am-
biance that reinforces that," said
Ms. Jacobowitz, who spent 18
years as curator of the Philadel-
phia Museum of Art and three
years as administrator at the
Cranbrook Institute of Science.
"Today, we seem very removed
from the people who are at the
basis of our faith," Ms. Hartman
said. "There's a proud tradition
of strong Jewish women, and
they teach that young Jewish
women can find success in many
ways."
Ms. Hartman recalled that au-
thor Virginia Woolf observed that
women often come to terms with
their lives by thinking back
through generations — and cen-
turies — to the stories of fragili-
ty and perseverance of all of their
mothers.
We don't know our mytholo-
gy well enough," she said. 'These
women have many sides to them,
and can teach us so much." 111

' <.,? ~ v.

Annual Exhibit At Lemberg

Lemberg Gallery will host its Sec-
ond Annual Works for Young
Collectors exhibition starting
Dec. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. at an
opening reception in support of
Day Without Art, World AIDS
Awareness Day.
Lemberg Gallery exhibits con-

temporary paintings, sculpture
and works on paper. Gallery
hours are Tuesdays through Fri-
days, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Sat-
urdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by
appointment. The Gallery is at
538 N. Woodward, Birmingham,
(810) 642-6623.

MSU Museum Plans Awards

Nominations are being sought for
the 1995 Michigan Heritage
Awards. The Heritage Awards
are given each year by the Michi-
gan State University Museum to
honor traditional artists in Michi-
gan and community leaders who
encourage and support the con-

tinuance of Michigan's traditional
heritage.
Awards to artists are given in
two categories, performance re-
lated traditions and material cul-
ture. 1994 added a third category,
that of community leadership.

330

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WSU Mounts Art Exhibit

The 1994 Salon art exhibition
will run through Dec. 21.
The exhibition also will be in-
cluded in a "Gallery Crawl" with
a reception from 6-10 p.m. Dec.
2. A reception will be held from
6-9 p.m: Dec. 7 in conjunction
Noel Night in the Universi-
ty 3'ultural Center.

The exhibition will feature
original works by alumni, grad-
uate and undergraduate art stu-
dents. In the salon tradition, art-
work will be removed from the
gallery when sold.
A portion of sales proceeds will
be used to enhance art programs,

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