The Significance of Cultivating Personal Jewish Imagery in the Artwork of Modern Orthodox High School Students

My field of doctoral research at Bar Ilan (Dept. of Jewish Art) is located at the crossroads between art education and Jewish education. As a veteran art teacher in the national religious school system, K-12, I became interested in the historic, pedagogic separation made between Jewish studies and art studies, and the potential impact of bridging the two both on the art produced and on the emotional connection such a bridge may create for young artists. Research conducted for my Master’s thesis concluded that participating in a course that opened up and legitimized the connection between Judaism and art had clear impact on the imagery produced by 10th grade students. Their 11th and 12th grade work reflected what I saw as the ongoing impact of their learning about art and Judaism. The current group of 11th and 12th graders did not study the 10th grade curriculum and their studies have been affected by the impact of Covid virus on the school system, which have influenced the students’ work in unexpected and atypical ways. Therefore, I have looked outside of my own student population to work done by high school students in other locations around the country. I have found work whose subject-matter appears related to my research either by theme, content, title, or explanation, and discussed the background of these pieces of art with the relevant teachers.

My conclusion is that the process of enabling students to bring their personal religious world into the art room by consistent, conscious intention on the part of the teacher can have major effect on the work produced, and may bring about the creation of new, meaningful imagery to the world of Jewish art and to the students’ Jewish identity.