Our mission is to engage students spiritually, culturally and emotionally, easing their transition from high school into college and helping them feel connected to an ever-growing campus and a vibrant Jewish community.
Dortort Center
.
Since its inception, the mission of the Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts located at Hillel at UCLA has been to make the arts an integral part of all UCLA undergraduates. Our programs are varied and far ranging focusing on the arts of a myriad of peoples and cultures around the world. In all of our activities and exhibitions we seek to draw on the universal lessons relevant for all peoples.
BackToTop
Fall 2012
Lights and Shadows: The Story of Iran and the Jews Exhibit Opening
Exhibit Opening: October 21st
Fowler Museum
Lights and Shadows: The Story of Iran and the Jews
Satellite Show Exhibit in Conjunction with the Lights and Shadows Exhibit Opening:
Thursday, October 25th from 7-9pm.
Hillel at UCLA
THE POWER OF CIVIL SOCIETY: THE BULGARIAN WAY TO OPPOSE ANTI-
SEMITISM
Spiegel and Dortort Galleries.
Exhibition, International Symposium & Cultural Events
Thursday, November 8, 2012 · Hillel at UCLA · 4-7 pm
Sponsored by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and the Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts at UCLA Hillel,
Cosponsored by the Bulgarian Jewish Heritage Alliance of America and the “1939” Club
Unlike other Nazi Germany allies or German-occupied countries (excluding Denmark), Bulgaria managed to save its entire 48,000-strong Jewish population during World War II from deportation to concentration camps. Based on the unique story of the Bulgarian Jews in the period 1940-1943, this exhibition demonstrates the crucial importance of mass civic action of the non-Jewish majority against the very principle of anti-Semitism and in defense of their own civic society as the only efficient means to defeat Nazism successfully and prevent the rise of political intolerance. Hitler could be stopped. A Christian Church could unanimously stand for the life, the rights and dignity of Jews; it was worth fighting for the survival of one's own civic society and general principles even in the darkest moment in history. Civic David could defeat anti-Semitic Goliath— surprisingly, this was true in a whole country during the Holocaust.
Fay Grajower.
"Where the Past Meets the Future".
Gindi Hall.
Presenting Fay Grajower's extraordinary art exhibit "Where the Past Meets the Future". This exhibit was shown very successfully at the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland from July 1st to October 31st, 2008.
Ms. Grajower comes from a long line of prominent Polish Jewish families who served as judges in the semi-autonomous courts of Jewish law that flourished for centuries in Krakow, Poland.
The installation is made up of 108 individual, wooden square boxes, 9 1/2" in diameter and serves as a metaphor for Jewish history, culture, experience and thought. Each piece is layered, constructed by a diverse process of cutting, pasting, and using and re-using the same elements again and again. The materials that interweave each other in the layering process include not only heavily impastoed paint, but fragments of old postcards, xeroxes, glass, and fabric creating a lush and diverse series of textures. The overall effect is a reflection of centuries of Polish-Jewish history and relations.
Gil Garcetti.
"Frozen Music".
Black and white photographic images of Disney Hall designed by Frank Gehry.
Artist Staircase.
BackToTop
Spring Quarter 2012
Hillel at UCLA Proudly Presents: Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
May 2nd
Dinner Reception (6:00pm) & Lecture (7:30pm)- $40.00
Lecture only (7:30pm)- $15.00
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg is the author of The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award (JPS 1995, paper Schocken 2011), and The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus. (Doubleday 2001, paper Schocken 2011) Her latest book is: The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious (Schocken, 2009).
She was born in London and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, where her father was a Rabbi and the head of the Rabbinical Court. She studied with him from childhood; he was her most important teacher of Torah. She holds a BA and PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University. After teaching English literature at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, she turned to teaching Torah. For the past thirty years, she has taught Torah in Jerusalem. Dr. Zornberg holds a Visiting Lectureship at the London School of Jewish Studies. She travels widely, lecturing in Jewish, academic, and psychoanalytic settings.
8th Annual Student Fine Art Show-Phylliss and Louis Mann Art Award
Generously underwritten by:
Phylliss Mann (z'l) and Louis Mann
Mr. Martin Sosin (z'l).
Co-Chairs: Elana Bowsher & Armando Cortes.
Judged by: Lauri Firstenberg, founder, director, and curator of LAXART
Award Ceremony and Reception: Thursday, April 26th, 6-8pm
8th Annual Student Photo Exhibit
Generously underwritten by:
The Pamela and Randol Schoenberg Foundation
Co-Chairs: Nicholus Warstadt and Rebecca Lawton
Beyond the Boundaries
Produced by: Nina Zale
Directed by: Yonatan Nir
The Dortort Center is proud to participate in this year's Jewish Film Festival LA, and will be screening the one hour documentary "Beyond the Boundaries" accompanied by a short subject film from the Ma'aleh Film School in Jerusalem called "Barriers". The screenings will take place at Hillel at UCLA on Monday, May 7th from 7-9pm.
"Beyond the Boundaries" is poignant and inspirational film that follows five young Israeli men who were severly wounded in military actions in Israel, to Aspen, Colorado, where the Jewish community has invited them to spend a week learning to ski on the magnificent slopes of Aspen. The young men's journey of overcoming the challenges of being handicapped and learning to navigate the treacherous slopes of Aspen becomes a personal story of triumph, self discovery and transformation.
The filmmakers of "Beyond the Boundaries" will be in attendance at the May 7th screening and will participate in a Q&A with the audience following the screening.
“Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman”
Gindi Hall, 2nd floor
This new traveling exhibition produced by the Partisan Educational Foundation and curated by Jill Vexler, Ph.D, poses probing questions about this incredible woman and the people whose images she documented.
Born in Poland in 1924, Faye Schulman received her first camera from her brother when she was 13 years old. It was that camera which ultimately saved her life, and allowed her to later document Jewish partisan activity. She is the only known Jewish partisan photographer. Schulman’s rare collection of images captures the camaraderie, horror and loss, bravery and triumph of the rag-tag, tough partisan- some Jewish, some not—who fought the Germans and their collaborators.
This exhibit is co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and Hillel at UCLA, The Guerin-Shapell Family Foundation, and The Goldrich Family Foundation
Exhibit opening: April 18, 2012, 5-7pm
Film Screening of "Gei Oni" directed by Dan Wolman
Sponsored by: The UCLA Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the Center for Jewish Studies
March 14th, 7-9:30pm
Spiegel Auditorium
Based on a novel by Shulamit Lappid, this is a story of a decisive feminist woman who escaped from the Russian pogroms and came to Israel. This is also the story of the pioneers in the Galilee.
"Gei Oni" Trailer
Information on Dan Wolman
BackToTop
Winter Quarter 2012
Arthur Szyk-“Justice Illuminated”
Dortort Gallery and Spiegel, 3rd floor
This exhibit introduces its viewer to the life and art of Arthur Szyk within the cultural and political movements of the first half of the 20th century. Of the many themes that characterize Szyk’s prolific creations, Justice Illuminated: The Art of Arthur Szyk focuses upon three themes: World War II, America, and the Jewish Response. As an artist Szyk once stated, “Art is not my aim, it is my means” The works presented in this exhibition further demonstrate how and why Szyk’s mission and message relate not only to the challenges of the past but also to the complexities of the present.
This exhibit is co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and Hillel at UCLA.
Exhibit opening: February 9, 2012, 4-6:30pm
BackToTop
Dortort Center Advisory Board
Basil Anderman
Marla Berns
Olivia Cohen-Cutler
Judi Davidson
Barbara Drucker
Dvora Ezralow
Marshall Goldberg
Marina Goldovskaya
Phylliss Mann z'l
Martin Sosin z'l
Neal Stulberg
Kenneth Turan
Mary Pinkerson
William Isacoff
BackToTop
Fall Quarter 2011-2012
Click Here for Photos From
The Triple Art Opening
at the Dortort Center for Creativity
in the Arts at UCLA Hillel
Ultra-Orthodox in Israel - Photographs by Michael Cohen
Faces from the Southern Ocean - by J.J. L'Heureux
Galactic Infinity - by Ilan Laks
MICHAEL COHEN-"ULTRA-ORTHODOX IN ISRAEL"
Dortort Gallery and Spiegel, 3rd floor
The "Orthodox in Israel" photographic collection captures the daily life of the Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. The images, printed on canvas, depict holiday celebrations, weddings, prayer and play.
Raised on a kibbutz, Mr. Cohen was never exposed to religion and acknowledges that he has a secular perspective on life. He has embarked on a photographic journey to explore the way of life of the Orthodox Jewish communities in Jerusalem, B'nei Brak, Tzfat and Netanya. He strives to convey the meaning of that life through visual stories. Not wanting to merely document, Mr. Cohen employs his signature use of dramatic contrast of light and shadows to portray ancient traditions and intimate moments to help the viewer relate to a world which usuall remains hidden from those who are not part of it.
J.J. L'Heureux-"FACES FROM THE SOUTHERN OCEAN"
Gindi Hall, 2nd floor
This exhibit features faces (portraits) of animals from the Southern Ocean taken by renowned photographer, artist and explorer J.J. L'Heureux. Ms. L'Heureux has gone on eleven expeditions to Antartica. Some of these voyages were as expedition artist and lecturer. One trip was to initiate expeditions to the Snow Hill Emporer Penguin rookery that could be accessed shortly after the Larsen Ice Shelf disintergrated destroying a long established Emporer Penguin rookery there. On another occasion Ms. L'Heureux spent time in the Falkland Islands photographing the numerous penguins rookeries and other sea birds. On another occasion she joined the South African research project on Robben Island working with the African Penguins located there.
Numerous museum exhibitions of J.J. L'Heureux's images have been seen across the United States. She gives lectures on her work in the Southern Ocean and has been invited to speak several times in China.
This exhibit has been generously underwritten by the Winnick Family Foundation.
Ilan Laks-"GALACTIC INFINITY"
Artists Staircase
In his Culver City studio, Ilan Laks concentrates on what he calls his "Galaxies." Each piece imbued with galactic infinity, his large-scale paintings are an attempt to recapture the epic paintings of a pre photographic and video world - the galaxies of the collective unconscious being one subject the camera cannot catch.
BackToTop
Dortort Center Past Programs and Brochures
BackToTop
Images From The Past
President Ivo Josipovic of Croatia (Right) pictured with
Perla Karney, Artistic Director of the Dortort Center (Left).
BackToTop
Past Events
"Croatian Righteous Among the Nations"
A Photographic History
"Righteous Among the Nations" is an official title awarded by the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem on behalf of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. The title is bestowed by a special commission headed by a Supreme Court Justice according to a well-defined set of criteria and regulations. By 2010, over 23,000 individuals from 45 countries have received this honor; of those, 102 are Croatian.
The Yad Vashem Law authorizes Yad Vashem to confer honorary citizenship of the State of Israel upon the Righteous Among the Nations and commemorative citizenship if they have passed away in appreciation of their acts.
Hillel at UCLA is proud to be the first institution anywhere to open this important photographic exhibit. His Excellency prof. dr. sc. Ivo Josipovic, President of the Republic Croatia, will be our guest of honor and will be opening the exhibit.
This exhibit was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Croatia, the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb, the Croatian Consulate General of Los Angeles, and the American Jewish Committee.
This exhibit was co-sponsored by: The UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA.
"Women and Hair Covering" by Michele Silver
Photographer and artist Michele Silver presents her outlook on women of different faiths, from Judaism to Islam to Christianity and others and the importance of hair covering.
"There have been those who have admired my choice of covering my hair and keeping my traditional values, while others have found my choice archaic and quaint. This is why hair covering is so important to me, and I strongly empathize with women of all faiths who choose to cover their hair. I applaud their effort to maintain their modesty and tradition, as they honor their religion in a secular world." - Michele Huttler Silver from her book Women and Hair Covering.
Michele Huttler Silver is a professional photographer and photojournalist. She is a graduate of Brooklyn College where she majored in photography and anthropology. She went on to study photography in a Masters program at New York University and has done post-graduate studies at the New School in New York. She has exhibited at galleries in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and other major cities in the United States.
This exhibit is co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and the UCLA Center for the Study of Religion.
"Concerning Art and Religion" & "Requiem for an Executed Bird"
Selected works by celebrated Japanese-American artist Junko Chodos
Junko Chodos was born in 1939 and raised during World War II in Japan. "As an artist I strive through my art to reach a center and encounter Divine Presence there, where people go beyond the barriers of ethnicity, gender, religious denominations, dogma and confined ideas of blood and soil."
Ms. Chodos' works have been shown in museums and galleries nationally and internationally including the Tokyo Central Museum, the Galeria Artica, in Cuxhaven, Germany, the Laguna Beach Museum of Art, the Asian American Arts Center in New York, and the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena.
This exhibit is sponsored by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies, Hillel at UCLA, and the UCLA Center for the Study of Religion.
Symposium on Art and Religion
in conjuction with Junko Chodos' exhibit
The search for "ultimate truth and meaning" is often considered to be the essential business of religion. But might not art also provide an avenue for this same pursuit? Indeed, inspiration and revelation, however conceived, are often said to play an equally essential role for the artist as for the religious visionary. Is art then an alternative to religion? Can art serve as a basis for creating a sense of community and shared purpose without relying on religion? Or are art and religion in fact complementary and even overlapping forces in shaping human life?
Living as we do in a post-Enlightenment age, when the authority of traditional religious texts and practices has been undermined in many quarters by radical doubt but the search for sources of enlightening inspiration remains undiminished, we take this opportunity to explore the complex relationship between art and religion in our contemporary world.
The Symposium on Art and Religion and the accompanying exhibitions "Concerning Art and Religion" and "Requiem for an Executed Bird" are sponsored by the UCLA Center for the Study of religion and UCLA Center for Jewish Studies.
"Memories"
Join us for the opening of Gideon Spiegel's photographic series, Memories.
In the Gindi gallery, join us for Gideon Spiegel's most recent photgraphic series, Memories, which makes connections to ancestry, collective memories, and abandoned spaces through poignant juxtapositions.
"Memories" is presented by Simcha-Moyal, Clay-Artisan Inc., and is co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and the UCLA Center for Israel Studies.
"Our Families"
"Our Families" introduces viewers to Jewish communal and personal history through The World That Was, photographs of Jewish family life in the 19th and 20th century Europe. The photographs reveal the daily lives, professions and celebrations of ordinary families, families like "our own." Each photograph is a personal treasure of an individual who survived the Holocaust. For many, it is all they have of their families. Their stories are told in the text that accompanies each picture. Although some people in the photographs survived, most did not.
This photographic exhibit has been generously sponsored by the "1939 Club", one of the oldest and largest organizations of survivors. This organization was founded in 1952 by 14 Holocaust survivors and has since then grown to nearly 1,000 members. Twenty years ago, the Club established the first Chair in Holocaust studies at UCLA; the first such Chair in the country at a public university. Because of the Club's established chair, students have been given the opportunity to take classes in Holocaust studies and many have continued their education through fellowships provided by the "1939 Club".
This exhibit is co-sponsored by The Center for Jewish Studies and the "1939 Club", the German Consulate General in Los Angeles, and the Polish Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Student Fine Art Show Opening
Thursday, April 28th
The Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts is pleased to host the Student Fine Art Show curated by Olivia Anthony from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. This competition will be juried by Howard Fox- Emeritus Curator, Contemporary Art, LACMA.
This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Mr. Martin Sosin. Student award generously provided by Phylliss and Louis Mann.
7th Annual Student Photo Contest
May 6th Submission Deadline
This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Pamela and Randol Schoenberg Foundation.
American Premiere of Yotam Haber's "New Ghetto Music from Rome-Death Will Come and She Shall Have Your Eyes" (2008)
Thursday, May 19, 2011, 8:00pm - Schoenberg Hall
This premiere is co-sponsored by The Jewish Music Commission in Los Angeles, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA History Department, UCLA Center for Jewish Studies, Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA, and the Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts at UCLA Hillel and the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles.
BackToTop