You may not have heard of Rimon: the Minnesota Jewish Arts Council, but Jewish artists and innovators around the country have.

A few things you should know about Rimon:

“Our budget is modest—we give away a max of $3,000 yearly in our grant process,” says David Harris, Rimon Director, “but often ours is the grant that enables an artist or organization to get additional funding. And sometimes, $3,000 is all that’s needed to get a project going.”

  • David Harris, Rimon Director, receives regular calls asking how he built such a successful organization.
  • For the fifth year in a row, Rimon has been recognized in the Slingshot Guide, a national resource of groundbreaking and significant Jewish organizations and programs.

Since 1995, Rimon has directly impacted artists in the Twin Cities:

  • Rimon adds flavor to the local Jewish community with events, shows, and Artist Salons.
  • Rimon provides financial and marketing resources for artists to build careers.
  • Rimon creates opportunities for artists and audiences to engage each other.

The Minneapolis Jewish Federation, recognizing that artists are an important—though often ignored—asset to our community, helped create Rimon. Each year, Federation provides Rimon with an allocation that the small organization is able to more than quadruple, a prime example of leveraging community dollars. Additionally, Rimon has found that their grantees are also doing incredible things with less money than they anticipated.

 

What’s next from Rimon

 

From Selfie to GroupieFrom Selfie to Groupie
March 20 | 4 p.m.
The St. Paul JCC
$12 ($9 for St. Paul JCC members)

Photographer Alina Bliumis and moderator Leslie Morris discuss From Selfie to Groupie, a book of photographs and essays that explore the variety and intricacy of Jewish-American identity among Russian-Jewish immigrants throughout the United States. This Rimon Artist Salon is co-presented by the Twin Cities Jewish Book Series and Russian American Jews of Minnesota (RAJMN). Please contact the Rimon office or purchase tickets here.

 

Summer Arts Workshops for Adults

The reviews are in, and they are terrific.

“One of my favorite days off ever!”

“Informative, engaging, and FUN!!!”

Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council and the Sabes JCC teamed up in July and August of 2015 to produce a series of four summer arts workshops for adults. The playgrounds were the banks of the Mississippi River, the shady gardens of The Landscape Arboretum, the avenues of Minneapolis’ North Side, and The Marsh in Minnetonka.

Each workshop explored an encounter with nature, one or two art forms—from drawing and cooking to collage and photography—and an exploration of personal belief.

In the words of Laura French, writing for the American Jewish World: “Why should kids have all the summer fun? This year grown-ups can enjoy the creativity, camaraderie and natural beauty of a summer day-camp experience.” The thirty participants came from an unusually broad spectrum of backgrounds; their ages spanned early-20s to mid-80s.

“The Spices of Life” launched the series with interactive visits to three cultural institutions on the North Side—Homewood Studios on Plymouth Avenue and Cookie Cart and Appetite for Change on Broadway. Whether the subject was painting, cookie dough, or a great beet soup, each of these cornerstone organizations showed how all the arts enrich the community in which they thrive and can empower individuals to live a more balanced, healthier life.

“One with Nature” put pencils and brushes in the hands of its participants. Masterfully guided by teacher Lynda Monick-Isenberg, the participants learned to look more acutely, to pay attention to their bodies through simple yoga poses, and to let their hands connect with their observational skills. A gorgeous Minnesota summer day in the gardens of The Arboretum gave everyone plenty to look at and draw.

“Mysteries of the Mississippi” combined preservationist Aaron Rubenstein’s intriguing stories of the social history of the river in downtown Minneapolis with artistic opportunities to capture the colorful natural landscape and wildlife which live on the water’s shores. Cameras, pens, torn paper, and collage were all used—under the guidance of artist Susan Armington–to evoke the watery passage of St. Anthony Falls, the secluded backwaters of the river’s small tributaries, and the Mill City Ruins.

The series concluded at The Marsh with “Skin & Bones and Everything in Between,” led by palliative care physician, artist, and storyteller Joel Carter and textile artist Beth Barron. Using personal experience as a starting point for discovery, the participants found unexpected ways to tell their individual stories using found objects, beads, paint, wood, and fabric.

Did you miss the workshops? The full list of past events is below.

We can’t wait to bring you more information about Rimon’s next arts workshops. Until then, visit rimonmn.org to keep up with how this Federation initiative is promoting and enhancing Jewish identity through art of all kinds.