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December 17, 2020 - Image 37

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2020-12-17

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

DECEMBER 17 • 2020 | 37

“I incorporate art as both an
avenue for self-expression and a
way to cope with their hospital
experience,
” Kaplan said. Her
face-to-face work ended when
she was furloughed in March.
Kaplan found a way to
continue providing pediatric
patients access to art, even when
she couldn’t be with them. “I
approached the hospital with
the newly released kits, and they
realigned the grant guidelines.

In addition to her new ven-
ture into the frameable and
3-D sticky board sand art kits,
Kaplan, who describes herself
as “the artist in the blue smock,

has a website filled with other
DIY sand art sets including
challah boards, apple and honey
trays and mezuzah designs
whose sand creations are topped
by a Lucite cover or case, with
some connected by beads.
She also sells Judaic items,
focusing on b’nai mitzvah gifts,
Jewish ceremonial art and ketu-
bahs, along with personalized
artwork and custom-designed
T-shirts.
Her non-sand art DIY sets
include anodized aluminum,
polished chrome, metalized
plastic and glass bead Judaica
including candlesticks, Kiddush
cups, menorahs and mezuzahs.
They also include yads, which
were initially funded to Jewish
day schools and synagogue
religious schools through
Federation’s Alliance for Jewish
Education, DeRoy Testamentary
Foundation’s Artist in the
Schools grant, as a way to bring
the arts into the curriculum.

OUT IN THE WORLD
“My DIY business started with
the Judaica kits, but the scope
of my business has evolved
to incorporate individual art
projects with themes and instal-
lations for a larger audience,

Kaplan said.
For Chanukah this year, she
designed a DIY kit to create a
menorah of beads and anodized
aluminum candleholders on
a Lucite base for the JCC’s PJ

Library and JFamily-sponsored
project to be delivered and cre-
ated at home.
Natalie Friedman recently
oversaw a sand art project with a
group of kindergartners through
the JCC’s PJ Library Detroit.
“We wanted to do something to
honor the life and legacy of the
great Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and
Gail’s sand art was the perfect
way to create something beau-
tiful and meaningful to accom-
pany (Debbie Levy’s children’s
book), I Dissent,
” said Friedman,
a PJ Library parent connec-
tor. She said it took about an
hour — along with some adult

help — for the kids to complete
the project.
Among the group’s members
was Friedman’s daughter, whose
completed work her mom refers
to as a gorgeous piece of art to
hang in their home. Next up,
says Friedman, will be a family
project to make one of Kaplan’s
sand art challah boards.
Kaplan’s portfolio includes
trompe l’
oeil clay, glass mosaics,
printmaking and mixed media.

Her award-winning pieces,
created in her Farmington Hills
studio, are exhibited worldwide.
She has worked, along with fel-
low artist Dani Katsir on mosaic
art installations at area hospitals,
schools, libraries, community
and senior centers and non-
profit organizations, including
those created for Kids Kicking
Cancer, Starfish Family Services
and Brilliant Detroit. Members
of the participating agencies
and facilities are involved in
the design and execution of the
work. She is now spearheading
community sand art installa-
tions on her own.

INTO THE FUTURE
Kaplan continues to adapt to her
new work direction.
“I am presently doing Zoom
workshops,
” she said. “The DIY
Ruth Bader Ginsburg sand art
kit has been successful for team
building and has been pur-
chased for events, and I am able
to create unique designs for spe-
cific events, celebrations, holiday
parties and family events, which
are now being done virtually
and I am able to lead by Zoom.

Kaplan said, “I reinvented my
business strategy with the help
and encouragement of my three
children, and my eldest daugh-
ter’s significant other.
” They told
her, “You have to go virtual.


As an artist I am lucky to
bring a different, more creative
perspective to most problems
than the average person,
” Kaplan
added. “The pandemic present-
ed me with a host of challenges;
chiefly that much of my work
in the community involved me
being on site, in person, leading
workshops and other live events.
With that off the table for now,
I was forced to rethink how I
could still get my projects out
into the world.
“I asked myself, ‘Why not
turn people’s homes into more
of a ‘home studio?’” she said.

As the pandemic limited the
demand for in-person art
experiences, I hunkered down
and launched a new website and
a host of new at-home kits.

And as far as how much more
she can add to her new site,
Kaplan said, “Looking ahead: I
think the sky is the limit.”

To purchase art kits and artwork, go to:
www.grkartcreations.com
For information on Gail Rosenbloom Kaplan’s corporate projects and
events, go to: https://gailrosenbloomkaplan.com/
Contact Kaplan at: (313) 410-0961 or gail@gailrosenbloomkaplan.com
Local porch pick up or shipping at additional cost are available.

Joey Boyer, Madison Friedman, Jenna Acker, all 5,

and Sadie Alekman, 6, all of Huntington Woods, display their

RBG sand art creations at a JCC PJ Library Detroit workshop.

JCC’s PJ Library and JFamily-

sponsored DIY menorah

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