art in struggle
Reading a friend’s blog this evening, I had the opportunity to also read Mazen Kerbaj’s blog, a Lebanese musician and artist who is in Beirut, Lebanon and has been blogging–through a series of illustrations–about the Israeli bombardment. Incredible art and poignant messages in this time with Lebanon’s infrastructure being destroyed in an all out attack.
Which, tangentially, also reminded me of the launch of a first-of-its-kind artist development program called the Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists. The fellowship will provide twelve New York-based artists working in the fields of Performing Arts, Music, and Visual Arts up to $45,000 for living expenses and project-related support for a period of two years. The program will also include ongoing development workshops and peer and professional led learning opportunities. Six Points is a unique collaboration of the Avoda Arts, JDub Records, and the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and was initiated with funding from UJA-Federation of New York.
What I especially love and respect about this program, at least from what I’ve heard, is it that it is dedicated to art and artists engaged in community, in history and in social change–a program very much needed in these times.