Temple Emanuel Event

Sunday, March 13, 2011, we had about 25 people from Temple Emanuel right up the road come in as part of a sisterhood fundraiser. Each participant wrote out a check for $25 to be donated to Sharsheret in support of young Jewish women with breast cancer. In return, Gary showed them around the new Art Incubator gallery and the studio where they had the opportunity to create Hiddur Mitzvah or Glass Ribbon items and purchase anything off the shelves for a matched $25 discount. It was a wonderful time for everyone involved!

More Photos

Dayton Ohio

Gary spent this past weekend at a Hiddur Mitvah event in Dayton Ohio.  He had a great time and seemed that everyone else there did as well.  The Dayton Daily News has a nice article about the event which I've taken the liberty of reposting here for you.  The original can be seen here.

Synagogue hosts artist during dedication

Temple Beth Or will celebrate its 
25th anniversary 
on Sunday.

By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer 7:50 PM Friday, March 12, 2010 
 

WASHINGTON TWP — If you’ve entered a Jewish home or house of worship, you may have noticed the mezuzah that hangs on the door post.

“A mezuzah is a piece of Jewish ritual art that adorns the front door and all of the interior doors of an observant Jewish home,” artist Gary Rosenthal explained. “It contains a prayer that reminds Jews of the covenant between man and God. Part of that prayer says ‘you shall remind yourself of the covenant when you enter a room.’ ”

Rosenthal, whose studio is in Maryland, is coming to town as an artist-in-residence for the 25th anniversary celebration and dedication of Temple Beth Or in Washington Twp. on Sunday, March 14. The building has been renovated over the past nine months, and now has a new multipurpose room, refurbished classrooms and a new exterior.

“It’s been usable, and we did some work on the sanctuary, but we had never made the building our own,” explains board member Marni Flagel, who co-chaired the fund drive for the renovation. The building was the former Fairhaven Church.

The reform congregation has 230 families. Its spiritual leader is Rabbi Judy Chessin. Under Rosenthal’s guidance, Beth Or families will spend the morning making art.

“We’ll be making mezuzot for our building and also for new Ethiopian Jewish immigrants to Israel,” event chairwoman Mary Youra said. “This project was inspired by the Temple’s recent visit to Israel, where members visited an absorption center and met many recent Ethiopian arrivals.”

After a 1:30 p.m. formal dedication, the synagogue will host a trunk show and meet-the-artist for Rosenthal and his work. Project Judaica kits will be for sale.

Rosenthal, who has been sculpting in welded metals for more than 30 years, said he has been traveling throughout the country for the past decade to help communities create Jewish objects.

“It’s a mitzvah or good deed to beautify Jewish ritual,” he said. “After Hurricane Katrina, we had 1,000 people across the country making menorahs and dreidels (Hanukkah spinning tops) and they were donated to those people who had lost everything in the hurricane. Twenty-two communities were involved.”

The process uses colorful glass cut into small pieces, then tumbled in sand to get rid of sharp edges.

“We have a template for Sabbath candlesticks or a mezuzah, and people create a mosaic on it,” Rosenthal explained. “Then I bring it back to the glass studio and I fire it, integrate it with metal, and we fuse it into a single piece of glass.”

Event chairwoman Mary Youra said some of Rosenthal’s own glass mezuzah creations will be displayed on the day of the dedication. A special prayer is said when the mezuzah is placed on the door.

The dedication event and glass workshop are open to the public. Speakers include Rosenthal and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville.

Youra says the project offers a dynamic way for people of all ages to interact and create art that will complete the building and grace the homes of congregants.

“It’s a marvelous opportunity to reinforce Jewish values, beautify the commandment, give to others and repair the world, all within a creative fund raising experience.

How to go

What: 25th year anniversary celebration and dedication of Temple Beth Or

When: 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 14. A morning glass workshop with Gary Rosenthal will be held at 11:30 a.m. It’s open to the public.

Where: 5275 Marshall Road (corner of Rahn and Marshall roads) in Washington Twp.

More info: (937) 435-3400.

 

Brandeis Women 2009

A little over a year ago we had a group here as a fundraiser for Brandeis Women.  They had so much fun that they came back! Paying their group a fee to participate, Gary matched that donation in the form of a discount as the women bought sculpture and created custom glass.  If your organization would be interested in a similar event please don't hesitate to contact us!

More pictures can be seen at  www.facebook.com/garyrosenthalcollection.

Some Visitors

Last week Gary had the opportunity to work with a group of Russian students. The group got a tour of the studio and created some mezuzot in a Hiddur Mitzvah project which will be donated to an organization back in Russia. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves as is easily evident in this photo!

A Couple of Fun Events

The past few days we've been involved in a few fun events. First we held a glass making activity at the University of Maryland Hillel Freshman Fest. As an initiative to make tzedakah part of Hillel as well as Hillel part of tzedakah, the students helped to create the glass that is now part of this special tzedakah box mounted inside their building.


A couple days later we had a great group of students from AVODAH - The Jewish Service Corps at the studio to meet and talk with Gary, see the place and participate in a Hiddur Mitzvah project.

More pictures from both events can be found here at our facebook page.

The American Craftworks Collection - Featured Artist

From the American Craftworks Collection newsletter:


American Craftworks' Scheduled Events

April 1 - April 30, 2009

Gary Rosenthal - Featured Artist

Maryland sculptor Gary Rosenthal is our featured artist in April. Gary specializes in Judaica handcrafted from mixed metals and fused glass. Gary has been sculpting for over 30 years. Combining copper, brass and steel with brilliantly colored fused glass, Gary has a contemporary style that is rooted in tradition. His work has been presented to Presidents from Carter to Clinton and to celebrities as varied as Bette Midler and John Travolta.

If you want to pay them a visit to see our work as well as the work of other accomplished artists, here is all the info you need:

American Craftworks Collection
189B Main Street • Annapolis, MD 21401 • 410-626-1583 Email:amcraftworks@aol.com http://www.americancraftworkscollection.com/

Our First Ever Open House.

The Gary Rosenthal Collection is getting ready to hold our first ever open house on May 17th. If you are part of a group who would be interested in a unique view of the studio, and easy fundraiser, and is in the DC area, we're interested in talking to you! If you are a part of a local sisterhood or day school, you may have already gotten one of our invitations in the mail, but I just wanted to add a note here about the event because it really is exciting and a win win win situation for all.

The way the open house will work is that there is a $10 cost per person to participate. That $10, though, will be paid in the form of a check to your organization as a way for you to easily raise some money for your cause. The guests will then get a $25 gift certificate to use on anything in stock while they are here, after being shown around the place by Gary.

For more details and availablity call 301.493.5577.

New Scholastic Opportunities From The Gary Rosenthal Collection

We have had a lot of new ideas brewing here at the GRC offices and I can finally tell you all about some of them. I'm not going to go into detail here, but if you want to know how you can help make a menorah for the White House, enter a Tzedakah essay scholarship contest, or apply for some unique and exciting art Tzedakah grants, click right on the Tzedakah Burger!

The Philadelphia Gift Show

We're back from the Philadelphia gift show! It was slower than in years past - a sign of the times - but it was still an enjoyable and productive time. I particularly enjoyed the chance to see a variety of the best in American handcrafted artwork all in one place and it was nice to think that we have a place among that category. I, sadly, did not get any photographs of our booth, so if you would like to see it, you'll just have to come and visit us next time!

Another Show

The second show of the season, The Buyers Market of Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia, is just a couple days away, running the 13-17. The Gary Rosenthal Collection will be one of the 1,300 exhibitors showing their work this year. If you are a buyer and plan on attending, be sure to stop by our booth, #2104. Even if you were at the New York show, we'd still love to see you, and we have some exciting new ideas to show off, including our brand new wall mounted Tzedakah boxes. I will be there with Gary Sunday evening and Monday afternoon to help out and hope to get some nice pictures of the event to share with you all. I would also like to apologize for those of you who have been having difficulty accessing parts of our website. We're aware of the problem and hope to have it resolved by the end of the week.

Create For A Cure

The Beth El Sisterhood in Yardley, PA, recently participated in a special Breast Cancer Hiddur Mitzvah event. We sent them the Hiddur Mitzvah kits free of charge for them to create the special pink glass we will use in the Breast Cancer items we sell. They then also had the option of buying the pieces we made with their glass. It was a great success all around. Here is a picture of Gary and crew with all of the pieces that came out of the project. If you are interested in a similar project contact the Gary Rosenthal Collection at 301-493-5577 or email Gary at garymrosenthal@aol.com.