22 | DECEMBER 17 • 2020

of NEXTGen Detroit was
also an in-person guest and
speaker.
Lighting the menorah was
Scott Sherman, representing
the Fisher Foundation, and
the president and CEO of
United Way for Southeastern
Michigan, Dr. Darienne
Hudson.
“I’m afraid of heights, but
it was a great moment and
honor,” Sherman said after the
lighting.

REIMAGINED JEWISH
STREET ART FESTIVAL
ARRIVES IN DETROIT
After the first-ever Jewish
Street Art Festival took place
in 2019 in Jerusalem, the
2020 version of the festival
has been reimagined as a
decentralized art event in
which Jewish artists create
public art pieces in their
respective cities. Each artist

or artist team is painting a
Chanukah menorah, linking
the eight participating cities
through the art.
Detroit joined a list of
participating cities that also
included Washington, D.C.,
New York City, Charlotte,
Atlanta, Los Angeles, Toronto
and Chicago.
Metro Detroit native and
current Chicago-based artist
Rachel Gluski created a
menorah mural on the wall
of the Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue over the span of
two days, wrapping up on
Friday, Dec. 11.
For Gluski, who attended
Hillel Day School and
recently finished her
undergraduate studies at the
School of the Art Institute
of Chicago, her first attempt
at a mural was particularly
meaningful.
“I think my work in general

is about creating more
of an open dialogue to
explore all sides of things
in a way that’s safe and
comfortable. I’m hoping
people feel a little uplifted
when they look at it,”
Gluski said. “Growing
up I don’t think I saw a
lot of Jewish art, so the
idea of a Jewish Street
Art Festival and actually
having it on the street
is kind of exciting and
cool.”
Gluski received support
and live reactions from
people walking by while
creating the mural, which she
and her mother, artist Cheryl
Widener, appreciated greatly.
Los Angeles-based artist
Hillel Smith and NEXTGen
Detroit executive board
member George Roberts were
both instrumental in bringing
the Chanukah mural to

Detroit. With the closures and
cancellations of Jewish and
arts programming because of
COVID-19, this project has
allowed artists to engage their
local communities.
The Festival is supported
by the Charles and Lynn
Schusterman Family
Foundation’s Grassroots
Events program.

I

n this new virtual world
where every day can look the
same, one local teacher has
decided to mix things up for
herself and her students.
Margaret-Ann Wommer, a
social studies teacher at Frankel
Jewish Academy, has been
dressing up in costumes during
her classes ever since FJA shift-
ed back to virtual lessons Nov.
18.
The birth of the idea
stemmed from Wommer grow-
ing concerned for herself and

her students that virtual school
was going to feel monotonous.
”One day to the next you’re
rolling out of bed and you’re
going to your computer and
you’re just looking at a screen
all day, and I thought, ‘How can
I make this fun or interesting,
’”
Wommer said.
When Wommer was a child,
her mother was a district man-
ager for a retail chain as well as
involved with Girl Scouts and
PTA. Her mother would have
themed incentives at work and

dress up, bringing her energy to
related events.
“She knew how to moti-
vate people and make them
enthusiastic about their tasks,
”
Wommer said. “I was kind of
like ‘let’s give this a shot’ because
I’m a former theater person so
I had a ton of costumes lying
around.
”
Wommer’s first costume
was Rosie the Riveter. Other
costumes include a student at
Hogwarts from Harry Potter,
Wonder Woman, Lilo from
Lilo & Stitch, Princess Leia,
Belle from Beauty and the Beast,
Mary Poppins, Flo from the
Progressive commercials,
Katniss from The Hunger
Games, Wednesday Addams
and Minnie Mouse. Last week,
Wommer dressed up as Dorothy
from The Wizard of Oz and as
Cruella de Vil.
Wommer said there’s been
growing excitement from her
students, with them wanting to
know what the theme of the day

will be.
Wommer has no plans to
wear the costumes once in-per-
son learning resumes, though.
“We’re now extended until
next week from home and then
we’ll be on winter break, so I’ve
got seven more days ahead at
the bare minimum,
” Wommer
said. “We’ll see what happens in
the new year.
”
While also hoping to break
up the monotony, Wommer
hopes to also help break up the
tension in these stressful times
by partaking in the fun.
“It’s a nice way to start class,
we’re not just jumping right into
content and [the students] seem
to be in better spirits,
” Wommer
said. “Engagement is so crucial,
and sometimes it’s easier to
engage if you feel like you’ve
had a moment to bond. These
are such weird circumstances,
and I think we just have to give
ourselves the license to have a
little fun and maybe take a few
minutes to ‘just be.
’”

FJA teacher
leads Zoom
class in costume.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Virtual
Fun

FJAFACEBOOK

IN
THED
JEWS

Margaret-Ann

Wommer as Dorothy

COURTESY OF RACHEL GLUSKI

CHANUKAH IN THE D continued from page 20

Mural by Rachel
Gluski for the
Jewish Street
Art Festival.

&

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