Get Involved

The creation of JAC was inspired by the Jewish Artists’ Laboratory, a 10-year program, which deeply impacted, inspired, and strengthened our community. With renewed vigor and momentum, JAC was created. We are committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all we do. JAC is a year-long membership-based program, beginning September 2024 and will offer additional events and engagement opportunities that are open to the community at large. 

Membership in JAC includes:

• Weekly meet-ups for dialogue and community building through an artistic lens
• Monthly study sessions by local and national rabbis, scholars, academics and educators on curated themes
• Quarterly arts outings in the community with guided dialogue
• Multi-year rotating group exhibitions and arts events by JAC members
• Annual retreat
• Networking opportunities & resource sharing with fellow JAC members and community-wide

OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY – ARTIST MEET UPS: 4th Mondays of the month, 9 – 10 am. Minnesota JCC Capp Center, St. Paul. No registration needed.
DATES: 10/28, 11/25, 1/27, 2/24, 3/24, 4/28

This year’s JAC theme is DREAMS:

Dreams can be defined and interpreted in many ways – literal, figurative, a state of being. It is ripe for exploration and creative analysis. Dreams have been part of Jewish texts since the book of Genesis and a part of Jewish artistic landscapes throughout history: Jacob’s dream of the ladder, Joseph’s many dreams, Theodor Herzl’s famous quote –“ If you will it, it is no dream.” Hope, tikvah, has been the sustaining dream of Jews over the centuries. We will address how engaging in art can heal us and others – one example is Raze ben Ami, a freed hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri’s, dream catchers on display at Anu Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv.

Dreams also allow us to access our unconscious. They come unbidden with their own symbols and metaphors. We will explore how our own dreams can feed our creativity and how they can be a vehicle to shape the future when we consciously think beyond the possible. We’ll examine texts and art as well as ask how our own dreams can thread through our art. 

We are thrilled to welcome JAC’s dynamic facilitators to guide us through our year of Dreams: Meryll Levine Page, Rabbi Jill Avrin & Rabbi John Carrier

JAC is a program of Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council, an initiative of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and planned in partnership with Minnesota JCC, YourJewish, Hineni, JCreate, a group by TC Jewfolk.

Facilitator Bios:

Rabbi Jill Avrin is the Rabbi of YourJewish, a new organization in the Twin Cities serving those who are unengaged or under-engaged in Jewish life through creative and independent approaches.  She is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received her BA from the University of Minnesota in 2004, and was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 2013. Following ordination, she moved to Minnesota to work at Bet Shalom Congregation.  She spent 10 years at Bet Shalom, first as Rabbi Educator and then as Associate Rabbi, and left in the summer of 2023 to found YourJewish. She is involved in the broader community through her leadership on the programming committee of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, the Hopkins Race and Equity Initiative, the Board of Minnesota Hillel, and is the current chair of the Overseas Committee at Minneapolis Jewish Federation.

Rabbi John Carrier is a teacher of wisdom, culture, and tradition for Jewish and Jew-curious people of all ages. Ordained in 2014 by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, he has served as Rabbi and Senior Rabbi of two congregations in Southern California. Rabbi Carrier recently moved back to the Twin Cities to be closer to family, and he now teaches at the Talmud Torah of Minneapolis, St. Louis Park High School, and online for the Miller Introduction to Judaism program. He is a Fellow of Rabbis Without Borders and a graduate of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Clergy Leadership Program. He is the author of The Promised Life: Overcome Your Crisis and Find Your Purpose with Seven Gifts from a Time-Tested Tradition, host of the highly-rated Jewcurious Show podcast, and producer of more than 300 educational videos for YouTube.

Meryll Levine Page is the co-author, along with her sister, Leslie Levine Adler of the non-fiction book, Jewish Luck: A True Story of Friendship, Deception, and Risky Business. This cooperative research and writing informed Meryll in her work as a text facilitator for the Jewish Artists’ Lab for 10 consecutive years.  For 39 years teaching has been Meryll’s passion and profession. She has crossed the Mississippi to teach in both Jewish and secular schools, public and private schools. During her teaching career Meryll has taught Bible and Jewish History in Jewish schools, Hebrew language at Highland Park Senior High and St. Louis Park Senior High, and History at Maimonides High School, Minnesota Conservatory of Performing Arts, Breck School, and St. Louis Park Senior High. Meryll retired from St. Louis Park Senior High in 2010. In her free time, Meryll has been studying Daf Yomi daily through Hadran.org.il and is proud to have not missed a page since January 2020.