Arts & Life
Eternal Lights
Local artist chosen to display work in competition sponsored by Chicago's Spertus Museum.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
A
Royal Oak glass artist is among 27 inter-
national finalists in a design competition
sponsored by the Spertus Museum of the
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies in Chicago.
Janet Kelman entered the competition "Eternal
Light: The 2004 Philip & Sylvia Spertus Judaica
Prize." Slovakian native Vladimir Zbynovsky took
first place, winning $10,000 for a modernistic
piece made of sanded glass and aluminum.
The event, inaugurated in 1994 and inviting
works according to specific themes, was designed
to stimulate debate about the criteria determining
quality ceremonial art and foster greater apprecia-
tion for all Judaic art forms, such as the previous
subjects of mezuzot and spice containers. This
year's exhibit will be open to the public through
Feb. 13.
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Slovakian native Vladimir
Zbynovsky took first place in
the competition, winning
$10,000 for a modernistic
piece made of parabolic mir-
ror, sanded glass, aluminum
and chain.
In an unusual entry, Lillian Lee Schatz of Buffalo,
N.Y., created a ner tamid using a suitcase, plain
saucer, candle and rope.
"I am thrilled to be in the Spertus exhibit and
have the Bariff Shop of Judaica at the museum
carry two of my sculptures," says Kelman, 55,
whose design takes the form of a chandelier hang-
ing from the center by a long brass tube.
"The eternal light I designed is made of pale
sky-blue glass with amber lights to give the effect
of swirling clouds with light glowing within. The
idea is that God's presence is like fire in the sky."
Kelman, who learned about the competition
from friends in the local art community, had done
a similar piece for Peninsula Sinai Congregation
in Foster City, Calif, where her brother-in-law,
Marvin Goodman, is rabbi. Although her large
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body of work is only
minimally religious, she
has done leaded glass
windows for Temple
Emanu-El in Oak Park and seder plates to be sold
during Michigan Glass Month.
"The eternal light (ner tamid in Hebrew) I did
for my brother-in-law's synagogue matched the
architecture," Kelman explains. "The one for
Spertus is softer and more frilly."
Kelman does a wide range of work. She has
used sandblasting for her larger commissions —
furniture, windows, mirrors. Glassblowing
becomes the process for smaller projects — dish-
es, bowls, perfume bottles and figurines.
Kelman's interest in glass started when she was a
chemistry major at the University of Michigan in
Ann Arbor. Introduced to the person who made
the lab ware in the building, she picked up on the
skills by taking classes at the Birmingham
Bloomfield Art Center and rented a stu-
dio. Her early figurines in the forms of
giraffes and kangaroos sold all over the
country.
First with a partner and later on her
own, Kelman built her business in Royal
Oak. As her clientele grew, she became
part of an Ann Arbor cooperative, the
Washington Street Gallery, where she
shows her smaller works.
"In making the eternal light for Spertus,
I had help from Michael's Lamp Shop in
Lathrup Village," says Kelman. "People at
Michael's helped with the wiring for the
carved and slumped piece I submitted."
"The eternal light was conceived to
resemble the menorah in a metaphorical
sense, to convey the radiance of the
Divine Presence," explains Rhoda Rosen,
Spertus Museum director. "It also relates
to the philosophic concept in Judaism of
Torah as light joined to knowledge in
search of understanding.
"As the Bible invokes that Israel shall be
`a light unto the nations' (Isaiah 42:6),
the ner tamid reflects Jewish commitment
to Torah devotion and benevolent
deeds."
Jurors deciding on the Spertus win-
ners included Gustavo Bonevardi, co-
founder of PROUN Space Studio and
a creator of the two beams of light
that filled the New York skyline
where the World Trade Center Towers
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Gavriel Touboul of Jerusalem, Israel used silver and
brass in his undulating entry.