Presentation from “Shaping Exhibition Development Around Community Perspectives” paper presented on panel “Reaching Deeper - Artists, Curators, and Educators Engaging Communities” at the 2013 Council of American Jewish Museum’s Conference, New York, New York, February 2013.
2. Why the Eruv?
(or What the heck is an Eruv and who cares?)
• An eruv is a ritual enclosure for the Sabbath
• Integrate religious and technical creativity
•Eruv history closely tied to Jewish history
• Gaining academic interest
• Artists working around the concept of eruv
3. Get Your A-Team
Assembled an Advisory Board of
Scholars
• Confounds the most knowledgeable
• Controversial, especially in New York
• Hundreds of thousands of Jews rely on
community eruvs
The Panel’s Conclusions:
• Growing interest popularly
4. At the Center
These issues are especially important to
Orthodox Jews in particular
• Nobody else uses an eruv (no
kidding!)
• NOT A LOOPHOLE! Illiteracy
around Eruv in Jewish legal
tradition
• Recent data on composition of
Orthodox Jewish community
• Gender dynamics
• Field of Analysis: NYC
5. On a (Kashered) Silver Platter
• Defined the focus: Eruv and Jewish Community in New
York
In other Words … here’s your audience:
• Defined the Audience: Several Hundred Thousand
Orthodox Jews
6. Primary Targeted Communities:
• Eruv Enthusiasts (and builders)
• Jewish Schools
• Synagogue Communities
Target: Big Apple
Orthodox Jews
7. Primary Targeted Communities:
• Eruv Enthusiasts (and builders)
• Jewish Schools
• Synagogue Communities
• Cultivate awareness about the
exhibition
• Enhance the museum’s profile
• Acquire a working database of
community contacts
Early Outreach Goals
Target: Big Apple
Orthodox Jews
8. Museum Educators
• Know who to call in the schools
• Align exhibition with school needs
• Generate buzz about the exhibition among educators
Putting Out the Call
10. Contact Influential Educators and Rabbis
• Consultations
• Program Design and Planning
• Networking
Interpret Communal Needs
• Identify objects
• Highlight objects
• Identify Essential Lessons
Education’s Role
11. Putting Out the Call
• Knows people who make eruvs
• Understand the historical and practical dimensions
• Make Connections
Eruv Scholars (Rabbis, Enthusiasts, Others)
12. • What do people know and not know?
• Life before eruvs
• Impact on women, children, and the infirm
Gathering Information
Getting Communal Voices - Survey
• Stories
13. • Interviews with eruv creators
• Stories about controversies
• Maintaining eruvs
Leaders – Films
• Finding objects
• What do people know and not know?
• Life before eruvs
• Impact on women, children, and the infirm
Gathering Information
Getting Communal Voices - Survey
• Stories
14. • Discovered stories about eruv history in
NYC
• Uncovered objects (eruv gates on telephone
poles)
• Made connections with leaders and their
communities
Gathering Information
Effects
15. • On the eruv in general (using
lasers!)
• Eruv history in NYC (Thousands of
strings)
• Eruv present in NYC
The Artists
Art Pieces on the Eruv
16. Meeting Expectations?
• Greater relevance for schools
• Better alignment with programs (youth and adult)
• Education brought into interpretative planning
Education Department’s Role – Success
• Initially, attracted students
• Art pieces enhanced didactic quality
17. Meeting Expectations?
• Added community voices into the
exhibition
• Tightened the narrative’s argument from the beginning
• Placed the narrative in the NYC area (artifacts and
interactive content)
Community Awareness – Success
18. Meeting Expectations?
• Community buzz – Did not appear to last
• Community ambassadors (synagogues, experts) – Did not
advocate
• Limited press attention
Unfulfilled Expectations – Limited Press and
Few Visitors
• External factors
20. And Beyond…
• Benefits of cooperation between curatorial and education
departments
• Value of applying community input to interpretative planning
Lessons Learned
• Challenging to expect participants to act as ambassadors
Notas del editor
Introduction: We decided to do an exhibition about the topic of the eruv….
Introduction: We decided to do an exhibition about the topic of the eruv….
We assembled a panel of scholars and eruv experts to discuss how to approach the topic.The discussion yielded several conclusions / directions
The conclusions brought the idea of the community to the center of how we thought about this topic.
The conclusions brought the idea of the community to the center of how we thought about this topic.
Schools: fit the the interpretative framework, narrative, and programs to schools’ interests Synagogue communities: Spread word about the exhibition and the museum; learn about people involved in eruvs in the areaEruv Builders: Understand the technical and administrative issues around eruvs, and acquire artifacts
Schools: fit the the interpretative framework, narrative, and programs to schools’ interests Synagogue communities: Spread word about the exhibition and the museum; learn about people involved in eruvs in the areaEruv Builders: Understand the technical and administrative issues around eruvs, and acquire artifacts
