• Of Life and Loss: The Polish Photographs of Roman Vishniac and Jeffrey Gusky at the Museum
• The Holocaust Archive Revealed photographs by Richard Ehrlich, and
• Portraits of Survival at the Bronfman Family Jewish Community Center.

November 9, 2008 was a historic experience in our community, as people -estimated at over 500 - from all walks of life gathered for the commemoration. The museum gallery was packed, and we heard speakers Mara Vishniac Kohn, Jeffrey Gusky, Museum Director Larry J. Feinberg, Curator Karen Sinsheimer and Portraits of Survival Director Dr. Elizabeth Wolfson.

Then several hundred people took to the street with candles, and the crowd stretched out many blocks, creating a stream of light down State Street. As we arrived at the Bronfman Family Jewish Community Center, the line to enter the building went through the parking lot to the sidewalk. The SB News Press reported, "The march - attracting people of all ages - spanned multiple blocks, and along the way, motorists stopped at traffic signals called out to the group and asked what was going on." There were volunteers of all ages and all backgrounds, from middle school age to adults, all helping with the crowds. Larry Feinberg, SBMA director, said it was the biggest opening at the Museum that's he knew of.

Video coverage of the event from KEYT

Walk of Remembrance on State Street

Mara Vishniac Kohn & Ron Fox

Also in attendance: UCSB was a presence with Dean David Marshall doing the honors. and faculty Richard Hecht, Elisabeth Weber, Ursula Mahlendorf, and Janet Walker.
Dr. George Wittenstein (survivor of the White Rose) and wife Dr. Christel Bejenke were present as well.
Dignitaries Supervisor Susan Rose, Assemblywoman Hannah Beth Jackson, Supervisor Janet Wolf, Mayor Marty Blum, Supervisor Salud Carbajal, Water Board member Grant House.
Superintendent of Schools Brian Sarvis (and Ann Sarvis) and SBCC Dean of Education Alice Sharper were there.
Supervisors Wolf and Carbajal read a proclamation that captured the audience and the essence of what Portraits has accomplished. Messages and proclaimations came from Feinstein’s and Capps' offices as well.
Rabbis Cohen and Gross-Shafer and Cantor Mark Childs were there, with Rabbi Cohen doing the prayer at candle lighting time. 

Leading up to this event, the SBMA and JFGSB have been working jointly on a series of educational programs aimed at reaching youth from diverse backgrounds, offering inspiration to combat prejudice and creating positive alternatives.

Special thanks to:
Planning Group: Joyce Brock, Nicole Levine, Jackie Reid, Renee Clement, Ursula Mahlendorf, David H. Shor, Alexandra Forbes, Josie Martin,Cyndi Silverman, Ron Fox, Harriet Mosson, Carol Spungen, Michelle Greer, Maxine Prisyon, Gail Teton-Landis
Lynn Holley: Assistant to Curator for Ehrlich Photographs
Donors: Michelle Greer, Josie Martin, Gail Teton-Landis
Donation of Goods: Trader Joe’s Albertsons Steve Lyons Josie Martin, and special thanks to the Anti-Defamation League for help with goods, funds and planning
Santa Barbara Museum of Art Staff: Larry J. Feinberg, Director, Katrina Carl, Joni Chancer, Patsy Hicks, Karen Sinsheimer, Brian Szymanski, Kristy Thomas, Tina Villadolid, Matt Woodford, Erin Zetter

Educational programs include:

Teacher Open House at SBMA where teachers have an opportunity to sign up for special focus tours of "Of Life and Loss" and "Portraits of Survival." Teacher materials coordinate with tenth grade curriculum and California State Standards in visual arts, language arts and social studies.

High school students participate in a pilot project led by Museum art teacher, Tina Villadolid and Director of Education, Patsy Hicks, as well as Education Consultant, Joni Chancer. Students will visit both the Museum and BFJCC in preparation for this multi-disciplinary and multimedia project.

Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)  The two selected school groups as well as various other school and community groups will have their art displayed at the Museum as part of this community celebration. Holocaust survivors connected to the Jewish Federation and working with Museum consultant Joni Chancer will also create a project expressing themes of remembrance which will be part of the community display on October 26.

"Bringing Them to Light" High School Event: All area high school classes will be invited to attend this special day of focus on the Vishniac/Gusky photographs. A survivor from the Jewish Federation will speak to the students, there will be docent led tours of the exhibition as well as guide questions for students to use on their own, a communal art project and individual art activities and writing activities, and a short film.

October- December  Special focus tours for high school students will be offered. Teachers may elect to visit one or both institutions in the same day. Free bussing to both institutions provided.

Portraits of Survival: Life Journeys during the Holocaust and Beyond
Permanent Exhibit

Portraits of Survival is a unique exhibit that depicts the life stories of 38 survivors and refugees of the Holocaust, through contemporary black-and-white portraits, autobiographical narratives and archival materials.

Portraits of Survival is also an educational program based on the exhibit, which serves as a community resource aimed at community building through comprehensive outreach to schools, institutes of higher learning, religious and social action. Docent-led programs are created for youngsters and adults which include firsthand accounts by survivors of their experiences and, opportunities for participants to examine their own community roles and moral beliefs. It is estimated that since its opening in November 2003, Portraits has hosted over 5,000 visitors individually and in groups.

Portraits of Survival engages the larger community across cultural and socio-economic lines with the goal of addressing diversity, individual responsibility and strengthening our ties to one another within the community.

Of Life and Loss: The Polish Photographs of Roman Vishniac and Jeffrey Gusky
October 25 - December 28, 2008

Roman Vishniac, Isaac Street, Kazimierz, Cracow, 1938 v32

Roman Vishniac, a Russian-born photographer, captured the colorful lives and traditions of Central and Eastern European Jews before the conflagration of the 1930s and 40s. Prompted by a commission of the American Joint Distribution Committee, Vishniac took over 16,000 photographs (2,000 of which survived the war) over a three-year period. His poignant works feature vibrant communities filled with life: men, women and children in their homes and schools, at their trades and in their streets, markets, and temples.

Jeffrey Gusky, Broken Stained Glass Window, Wielkie Oczy, 2001

Jeffrey Gusky, Former Jewish Apartment, Jaroslaw, 2001.

While each photographer had an individual style and statement to make, it is both the relationship with and stark difference between the two that provides the greatest emotional poignancy.  The exhibition pairs many Vishniac and Gusky photographs, illuminating the individual lives lost, culture destroyed, and environments degraded by decades of neglect in Poland, as Gusky photographed the desecrated cemeteries, crumbling synagogues, and empty streets that served as the backdrop for Vishniac’s scenes of mid-century Jewish life.

There are also several points of convergence in the biographies of Vishniac and Gusky.  Like Vishniac, Gusky is of Russian Jewish descent, and both men were compelled to their photographic projects in part by personal reasons springing from their Jewish heritage.  The photographers also have professional ties to biological science which embody their work through illustration of the fragility of human life.

SBMA Docent Tours:
November 1, 5, 7, 12, 13, 21, 26, 29 at noon; 9, 23 at 2 pm
December 3, 5, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 27 at noon; 7, 14, 21, 28 at 2 pm