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Adat Shalom's Tu b'Shevat mural will
welcome students back to class.

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The completed mural has combined "fingerprints" from all the artists' work.

I

Judy Marx

Through her unique Kehillah Art
Collage projects, Julie teaches children
and adults how to bring Jewish holi-
hen school begins in
days and prayer to life through vivid
September, students in
art projects.
the Adat Shalom-Beth
Last January, a multigenerational
Achim learning community will be
Adat Shalom group celebrated Tu
b'Shevat by learning
greeted by a handsome
piece of artwork hanging
about Jewish views on
the importance of nature,
over the entrance to the
Farmington Hills syna-
trees and of marking time
gogue's lower level.
through natural events,
The mural, themed to
such as the life cycle of
coincide with Tu b'Shevat
trees. Each participant
and the concept of growth,
created an individual
is newly on display this
81/2- by 11-inch oil pastel-
fall, but not entirely newly
watercolor resist "image"
created. The collage is the
representing the holiday
Julie Wohl
work of Adat Shalom stu-
and how to take care of the
dents, parents and congregants of all
world Jewishly.
ages. It is a project that began last win-
Julie took more than 100 paintings
ter under the direction of Jewish artist
back home with her to her studio
and educator Julie Wohl.
in Altoona, Pa., where she extracted

Special to the Jewish News

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36

August 22 • 2013

JN

Elijah Kaye, 11, and sister Leora,
9, of Farmington Hills

from each a small portion that she
merged into a 6- by 4-foot finished
collage on canvas.
"Kehillah Art means creating
something from everything:' Julie
explains. Taking a close look at the
mural, those who worked with Julie
last winter will find that each per-
son's fingerprints are represented in
some part of the unique collage.
Dr. Melissa Ser, director of con-
gregational learning, notes that
"the medium we chose, oil pastel
watercolor resist, is a technique that
can be mastered quickly. The goal,
though, was to work thoughtfully
and still create something beautiful
as a community. Tu b'Shevat was
chosen because we often think of
it as 'a holiday where we eat dried
fruit from Israel: but rarely dig
beneath the surface to think about
the deeper roots of the observance.
"With this artwork, we can bring
to life Tu b'Shevat and the value of
each individual tree, but also see
the incredible impact each tree has
as part of the forest. Likewise, in
our artwork we see the value of the
individual contributions — and the
extraordinary beauty created when
we put all of our ideas together" ❑

Judy Marx is communications

director at Adat Shalom Synagogue

in Farmington Hills.

Alyssa Diskin, 11, and dad, Jeff, of Commerce Township