News

Dear JAI Members and Friends,

I am immensely pleased to report that the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles has awarded a 2008 Cutting Edge Grant of $250,000 to the Jewish Artists Initiative for The Quest for Transformational Jewish Art, over a period of three years.

This generous grant will fund an expanded dialogue between Jewish artists from Los Angeles and Tel Aviv as well as create opportunities for selected artists from each city to become artists-in-residence. While the program is designed between artists from these two cities, it will reach many segments of the community through its activities, and partnerships with religious and ecumenical organizations.

These ambitious plans will mean new outreach programming and additional infrastructure. We will add a staff member and a small office which will greatly enhance our efficacy in everything we do. We will be collaborating with the Los Angeles/Tel Aviv Partnership for several of the exciting initiatives that are part of this grant.

There are various additional papers to sign and a ‘Grantee Evaluation and Marketing Workshop' that Victor Raphael, Donna Stein and I will attend on behalf of the JAI. Please watch for a notice for a general meeting in early August as we want to share the details of the grant and get your feedback as we put the plans in place.

I want to thank the Trustees of the Jewish Community Foundation for their belief in the importance of Jewish art and artists and I am especially grateful to Amelia Xann for her encouragement and excellent advice through the years. Several members contributed their astute suggestions to Donna Stein and to me during the grant writing process. We certainly could not have done this without Donna Stein's excellent grant writing skills.

Ruth Weisberg, Dean

USC Roski School of Fine Arts

Los Angeles, California 90089-0292