Winnick Hall, the principal exhibition gallery at the Manhattan Center for Jewish History, will feature an extraordinary collection of historical, modern and contemporary artworks exploring the continuing relevance of the story of creation.
In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis will include works ranging from multi-media and sound installations to computer animations, projections, and wall drawings. The exhibition is uniquely designed to create a lively dialogue between new installations by contemporary artists and historical representations of the story of creation.
Gary Winnick said, “We are pleased that the images included in this exhibit will be presented with a compelling array of historical images and artifacts, some rarely seen in public. Our hope for Winnick Hall was that museum curators would use the space in thought-provoking ways to exhibit the extraordinary richness of Jewish cultural life. This new display certainly fits that goal and serves the broader mission of the Center for Jewish History to bring together under one roof significant collections of art, craft and literature that celebrate the Jewish contribution to society.”
Added Gary Winnick: “Genesis, which proclaims the origins of the universe and humanity, has informed centuries of art and scholarship in religion, language, and ancient literature – even contemporary inquiries into physics and the environment. This collection of word, image, and artifact gives visitors and their families a renewed incentive to consider the classic story of creation through a fresh, contemporary lens.”
About the Center for Jewish History The Center for Jewish History is a unique partnership of five major institutions of Jewish scholarship, history, and art: the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, the Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
The Center serves the worldwide academic and general communities with combined holdings of approximately 100 million archival documents, a half million books, and thousands of photographs, artifacts, paintings, and textiles–the largest repository documenting the Jewish experience outside of Israel. Visit the Center at http://www.cjh.org/ on the Web.
About the Winnick Family Foundation The Winnick Family Foundation encourages project-specific programs but also selectively supports capital campaigns and unrestricted gifts to grantee organizations. There is a preference for projects in Los Angeles and New York – or those having an international component.
Foundation naming grants include:
Karen and Gary Winnick and the Foundation have endowed university and high school literacy and scholarship programs at Brown University, at Mrs. Winnick’s alma mater Syracuse University, and at Gary Winnick’s alma mater, Long Island University.
They have also funded the transformation of the on-campus C.W. Post mansion administrative center – renamed Winnick House – as well as the main cafeteria which is now named in honor of Mr. Winnick’s late father.
In California, the Foundation has supported educational programs at the California Science Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, KOREH L.A., the Los Angeles Zoo, L.A.’s Best Afterschool Program, the Wonder of Reading, the Fulfillment Fund and Noah’s Ark at the Skirball Center.
Among the many other Foundation grantees are the Special Olympics, The Center for Jewish History, Children’s Scholarship Fund, Partnership for Better Schools, Teach for America, The Gettysburg Foundation, The National Parks Foundation, Best Fri Animal Society, The Los Angeles Police Foundation, Shoah Foundation, and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University.
The Foundation also supports charities operating outside the United States, including the International Medical Corps, Flora and Fauna, World Wildlife Fund, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the Israel Museum, the Israel Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Zoo, Heifer International and the Bloomfield Science Museum at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. For more information on the Foundation and its work, visit http://www.winnickfamilyfoundation.com on the Web.
