Our collaborative mural for the Schechter Institute: אות היא לעולם – A Sign Forever/A Letter for the World, incorporates text and quotes in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic from a variety Jewish sources, both ancient and modern, centering on the concept of creation and learning. Each artist picked a source that they personally found meaningful and painted it on the wall in their own chosen style.

In addition to our own artists, we recruited a handful of calligraphers and scribes, most of whom had never been part of a mural before! The layering of the texts in different styles, colors, languages, and origins represents the spirit of the biet midrash, with each person bringing their own experience and passion to create a rich and meaningful conversation across time and space. In this way, the mural also evokes a page of Talmud, with commentators building on each other and leaving their mark on Jewish history.

Participating artists include (in order of painting): Shlome J. Hayun, Hillel Smith, Judy Kopelman, Lenore Mizrachi, Izzy Pludwinski, David Goldstein, Bentzi Binder, David Moss, Jamie Shear.

Photos: Itai Nadav