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The Dallas Morning News: What's in a name? Art that fosters cultural bridges in Israel

05:35 PM CDT on Friday, July 29, 2005
By ELIZABETH LANGTON / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

A single word inspired nine Dallas-area artists to create sculptures, paintings and photographs that, despite their distinctly varied appearances, are connected by culture and purpose.

Each artist made a piece specifically for the Yitzhak International Art Gathering, which drew 200 participants to Israel's Western Galilee region last month.

Yitzhak – the Hebrew name for Isaac that also means laughter – served as the theme. Modern-day Isaacs and Yitzhaks found their way into the art, as did the biblical story of God testing Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac.

The event was conceived more than four years ago as an exchange program between Jewish communities in Israel and the United States, said Renee Stanley, project coordinator for the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas.

The resulting artwork may serve as a bridge between cultures, she said. "The work they came out with was very dynamic, very compelling. There was a focus on contemporary issues that face us in Dallas, America, Israel, all over the world. The images allowed us to come together around these issues," Ms. Stanley said.

Several of the participating artists said they were drawn to the project because of its connection to Israel.

Susan Kandell Wilkofsky had made several plans to go there, but the trips always fell through. Her grandfather, Yitzhak Gabriel, also wanted to visit but died without having gone, she said.

Ms. Wilkofsky created six nickel-plated boxes adorned with words celebrating the many aspects of Yitzhak – the power of laughter, famous scholarly and talented people named Isaac and Yitzhak, and her beloved grandfather.

"There were just so many tie-ins that were perfect for him. It was really special for me," she said. "He had always wanted to go to Israel, and he is in a sense there now."

Robin Sachs photographed 12 modern Isaacs of Dallas, of various ages, races and backgrounds. Her study is based on the Judaic tradition that parents receive a moment of prophecy that directs them to choose a name connected to the child's essence and who he will become.

" All of these people must be bound together in some way," she said.

During their visit, the artists toured regional historic sites, interacted with Israeli artists, watched performance art shows and attended lectures by area scholars.

" It was a wonderful program that stretched our minds and imaginations," Veronique Jonas said. "It's still with me."

Ms. Jonas' daughter, a professional dancer who lives in New York, also went on the trip. Nathalie Dessner created a dance to complement her mother's painting.

The lasting impression the trip left with Paula Joyce is that hope for change exists in Israel. In communities the artists visited, Arabs and Jews live peacefully together. A mime troupe of Arab and Jewish children performed during the Yitzhak event.
" There are these beautiful things happening that we don't read about," Ms. Joyce said.

The connections formed between the Israelis and American participants will help foster the change, she said.

"There were seeds planted there that we don't even know about yet but that will emerge in the future," she said. "We're at the beginning of something, but I believe that only good and more special things will come out of it. We just don't know what they are."

The Yitzhak event was a project of the Partnership with Israel, a collaboration of 13 U.S. communities and Western Galilee to promote stronger ties between the two countries' people.

Ms. Stanley said organizers hope to hold future Yitzhak gatherings and may bring this year's artwork, which is still on display in Israel, to the United States for a traveling show.

Elizabeth Langton is a Dallas-area freelance writer

NATALIE CAUDILL/DMN
From left: Renee Stanley, Veronique Jonas, Susan Kandell Wilkofsky, Julie Meetal Berman, Paula Joyce and Robin Sachs were among 10 artists representing Dallas in the Project Yitzhak International Art gathering.