Israel Arts & Culture
Meet Erica Hartman-Horvitz and Roe Green, Co-Chairs, Cleveland Israel Arts Connection
Arts provides a common language spoken by every culture.
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The Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Presents
Israeli artist Shlomo Katz’s career spanned from the 1970s until his untimely death in 1992. Inspired by medieval icons and oriental miniatures, Katz developed an original technique of painting by applying oil on top of gold leaf. The result was a combination of deep vibrant colors combined with a metallic surface that glowed, forming a totally new modern image filled with light. His artistic style and preoccupation with beauty and aesthetics is deeply rooted in the European culture in which he was born, while distancing him from what other contemporary artists created in Israel at that time.
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Cleveland Israel Arts Connection
We bring Israeli arts and culture to Cleveland by working with the finest local arts organizations and institutions. We celebrate experiences that deepen our Jewish identity and share the beauty of Israel with everyone, exploring the human condition through dance, film, music, literature, theater and the visual arts.
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We present art where art belongs. If we bring in a theater company, they perform at an established theater; visual art is presented in galleries and museums; music is heard in recognized concert and recital halls. We survey venues across the community to identify and promote Israeli art and artists they are already presenting. We share that information with you, so you can easily access the beauty of Israel and its people through art.
100
When the Federation turned 100 years old, we celebrated by bringing world-class Israeli art and artists to Cleveland. Interest was outstanding and the idea for Cleveland Israel Arts Connection was born.
60+
Since this program’s inception, over 60 Israel-related arts and culture events have been presented here in Cleveland, all receiving popular acclaim.
9,000+
In just one year, over 9,000+ people from diverse backgrounds explored the beauty of Israel and Jewish life through Cleveland Israel Arts Connection.
Some examples of our success
Requiem
presented by Cleveland Public Theatre
March 14, 2024 - April 6, 2024
Cleveland Public Theatre 6415 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland
Written by one of Israel’s most beloved playwrights, Requiem dares to tackle the big questions of “life and death” with poetry, frankness, and a lot of humor. One old man embarks on a series of journeys to ward off death failing to see the life all around him amidst the colorful characters he encounters along the way—an old medic, two drunks, three cherubs, and two prostitutes who dream of moving to Paris.
This ground-breaking United States premiere production resets the play in an American landscape and features Cleveland’s renowned actor and activist Peter Lawson Jones in the central role.
Vertigo Dance Company
Vertigo Dance Company
Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Mimi Ohio Theatre/Playhouse Square 1511 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland
Grounded and organic yet driven and unyielding, The Vertigo Dance Company attacks contemporary movement with an honesty that engages audience members to feel the vulnerability of emotions being unpacked onstage. One of Israel’s most highly regarded contemporary dance companies, Vertigo takes the viewer on an exciting and challenging journey into unfamiliar territories with every performance.
This performance will feature their new work, “Makom,” created by Artistic Director Noa Wertheim. The evening-length work brings audience members on an almost meditative journey that explores the tension between the center and the extremities, between form and content, between inside and outside, and between construction and destruction, and beautifully dramatizes the striving for unity and wholeness that speaks profoundly to the human condition. The movement style of Vertigo’s dancers will awe audiences as Wertheim challenges the limits of the body through dance.
The Shalva Band
Presented by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.
The Shalva Band, comprised of 8 talented musicians with disabilities, performed on Season Six of The Rising Star in Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people tuned into the popular broadcast to watch their performances. They united a country, and world, in support of inclusion. Their performances changed how millions of people view and embrace disability. Shalva Band performed in Cleveland in celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s 75th Independence Day.
Religious Women in Contemporary Israeli Cinema
Religious Women in Contemporary Israeli Cinema
A Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Forum
From ‘Fill the Void’ to ‘The Women’s Balcony’ –attendees had the opportunity to experience religious women - their lives, their loves & and their conflicts through the lens of contemporary Israeli cinema
Eran Polishuk, the Director of Film and Media at Israel's Office for Cultural Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel, New York, led an informative conversation on the current state of Israel’s film industry; dealing with controversial subject matter, up and coming directors, trends in filmmaking, and more.
Culture Fix CLE
Healing our community through the arts.
An installation by Tel Aviv artists Dede Bandaid and Nitzan Mintz in collaboration with local photographer Daniel Levin. More info >
The Roe Green Gallery
Located at the Federation’s Mandel Building, the Roe Green Gallery is devoted to showcasing exceptional visual art by Israeli artists. The gallery hosts a range of exhibitions including paintings, drawings, photography, collage, and prints. Some are guest-curated, like the successful exhibit Prints from Kibbutz Cabri
See images from past gallery shows
Meet our Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Staff
Rachel Lappen, Senior Vice President / Chief Development Officer
216-593-2841rlappen@jewishcleveland.org
Debra S. Yasinow, Director, Cleveland Israel Arts Connection
216-593-2890dyasinow@jewishcleveland.org
Roe Green, Honorary Producer
Corporate Sponsors
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsor
Bronze Sponsor
Patron Society
By becoming a Patron, you help ensure that Clevelanders will be exposed to high-quality, thought-provoking and emotion-evoking Israeli arts programming right here in our hometown.
For more information about the Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Patron Society, please contact Rachel Lappen.
The Jewish Federation’s 2024 Cleveland Israel Arts Connection is brought to you by these generous individuals, corporations, and foundations:
Honorary Producer
Roe Green
Star Patrons
The John & Peggy Garson Family Foundation, Roe Green Foundation, Harley & Rochelle Gross, Richard Horvitz & Erica Hartman-Horvitz, Robert & Susan Immerman, Pam & Craig Kahn, Karen Krause
Platinum Patrons
Stanley I. and Honnie R. Busch Memorial Endowment, Drs. Jane Glaubinger & Eric Baer, David & Francine Horvitz, Michael & Anita Siegal Family Foundation
Gold Patrons
Reneé Chelm, Matt Garson & Casey Bochenek, Noreen Koppelman-Goldstein and Barry Goloboff, Sara Hurand & Elie Weiss, Linda McDonald
Silver Patrons
Zeda W. Blau, Rebecca & Irad Carmi, Marc Freimuth, Barbara Galvin, Florence Goodman, Lilli Harris, Amy & Steve Hoffman, Jewish Arts Endowment Fund, Roseanne Kadis, Rachel & Justin Lappen, Ira & Karen Levinsky, Cookie & Herb Marcus, Hedy & Michael Milgrom, Margie Moskovitz Kanfer, Peta Moskowitz, Deborah Deutch Rabinowitz, Ashley Hartman Robin, Sharon & Bruce Rosenbaum, Linda M. Sandhaus, M.D., Charna E. Sherman, Robert & Eileen Sill Family Foundation, Marjorie Simon, Margaret Singerman, Cathy Stamler, Richard & Beverley Uria, Ximena Valdes-Sessler, Herb & Jody Wainer, Susan Wasserman, Judith Weiss
Friends
The Edna & Yair Akrish Family, Leslye Arian, Ziona & Dan Austrian, Amy Budish, Deena & Richard Epstein, Jonathan Freilich, Joan Kohn, Annette Malkin, Debra S. Yasinow, Pam Young
We regret the omission of any names.
Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Advisory Group
Roe Green and Erica Hartman-Horvitz, Co-Chairs
Edna Akrish, Leslye Arian, Ziona Austrian, Eric Baer, Samantha Baskind, Timothy Beyer, Zeda Blau, Raymond Bobgan, Richard Bogomolny, Amy Budish, Sue Cahn, Rebecca Carmi, Reneé Chelm, Joanne Cohen, Deena Epstein, Natalie Epstein, Marc Freimuth, Mady Friedman, Barbara Galvin, Matthew Garson, Jay Geller, Valerie Geller, Jane Glaubinger, Florence Goodman, Tyler Grasee, Rochelle Gross, Lilli Harris, Rebecca Heller, Stephen H. Hoffman, Sara Hurand, Bob Immerman, Susan Immerman, Roseanne Kadis, Marjorie Moskovitz Kanfer, Sue Koletsky. Susan Krantz, Karen Krause, Lisa Kurzner, Leora Lanzola, Daniel Levin, Karen Levinsky, Toby Lewis, Sarah Liska, Linda McDonald, Hedy Milgrom, Michael Milgrom, Peta Moskowitz, Katya Oicherman, Amnon Ophir, Debbe Deutch Rabinowitz, Deborah Ratner, Sharon Rosenbaum, Heather Ross, Linda Sandhaus, Nancy Schwartz-Katz, Beth Segal, Abbie Sender, Charna E. Sherman, Anita Siegal, Scott Sill, Andrew Simon, Marjorie Simon, Margaret Singerman, Patrice Moore Smith, Ivan Soclof, Marilyn Soclof, Cathy Stamler, Marla Comet-Stark, Robert Stark, Barbara Tannenbaum, Richard Uria, Ximena Valdes-Sessler, Herb Wainer, Susan Wasserman, Penni Weinberg, Elie Weiss, Judith Weiss, Israel Wiener, Trudy Wiesenberger, Ruth Wolfson, Pam Young
