arts & life

ar t

A shoe sculpture by
Israeli artist Rachel
London Katz

The Janice Charach Gallery
during Glass Month in 2015

Art

Of Gold

Elizabeth Applebaum | Special to the Jewish News s

The Janice Charach

Gallery turns 25 —

and looks to help new

artists and explore

new genres.

Janice Charach

H

Natalie Estep, Self-Portrait

130 May 26 • 2016

undreds of extraordi-
nary stories have been
told in this one place.
There’s the story of designer Dana
Keaton and a group of teen girls
who created dresses from tea bags,
feathers and gemstones for a fashion
show. Project Runway star Joe Faris
was there, as was the media. The
room was filled with bright lights
and hundreds of guests who agreed:
This was magical.
And the story of the Soviet Jewry
movement, with posters and pho-
tos, a Russian Tea Room, badges
from the hats of Soviet soldiers, a
performance by a Russian-Jewish
theatre troupe, films and samovars
and nesting dolls.
And the story of a group of Detroit
artists who are painting the town —
literally — with dynamic murals and

canvases that sing with color.
The Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit’s Janice
Charach Gallery turns 25 this year.
And while only a quarter-of-a-cen-
tury old, it already has presented
some of the area’s most original,
creative and memorable exhibits.
Manny Charach and his wife,
Natalie, both of West Bloomfield,
established the Gallery in memory
of their daughter, Janice. Janice was
a little girl when she fell in love
with art, and her parents decorated
every open space in their house —
even the ceilings — with her paint-
ings. After graduating from Oak
Park High School, Janice attended
the College for Creative Studies
and continued post-graduate stud-
ies at the University of Michigan.
She received numerous honors for

her work, including a Michigan
Fine Arts Exhibition prize at the
Detroit Institute of Arts in 1972;
the Michigan Watercolor Society
Annual Exhibition prize in 1973;
and honorable mention at the 30th
Annual Scarab Club Watercolor
Show in 1973.
Janice was 38 years old when she
died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
in 1989. Two years later, in July
1991, the Janice Charach Gallery
opened with “The Collectors
Show.” Its mission was to promote
work by Jewish artists and present
shows on Jewish themes, as well as
to provide opportunities for new
and emerging talent. The Gallery’s
latest exhibit highlights the works
of artists in Detroit’s Corktown
neighborhood and continues
through Sunday, May 15 (see
Editor’s Picks on page 134).
According to Gallery Director
Kelly Kaatz, this latest exhibit,
“Corktown Studios Review,” per-
fectly reflects Janice’s vision.
“Janice was dedicated to helping
new artists and giving them oppor-
tunities to showcase their work,”
she said. “I think she would have
loved the diversity and originality
of this exhibit.”
Under Kaatz’s guidance, the
Gallery also is focusing on two
more of Janice’s dreams: Making
art accessible to everyone and
exploring new genres and formats.

