Children in the Holocaust Art Exhibit Opening

…life is Hell. When I’ll go home again, I can’t yet tell.”  Teddy, 1943, Terezin Children’s Contata

In observance of Holocaust Awareness Week, an exciting new art exhibit will open on April 14th at Hillel of Colorado, depicting the plight of Jewish children in the Holocaust through the eyes of Jewish and non-Jewish printmakers, survivors, and witnesses.

Children in the Holocaust: The Print Collection of Arthur Gilbert, is on display from April 14, 2013 through June 9, 2013 and officially opens with a reception and lecture April 14 at 2:00 p.m. at the David and Laura Merage Foundation Art Gallery at the Merage and Allon Hillel Center at the University of Denver. Professor Arthur Gilbert, owner of the collection and Associate Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver will present a lecture on the exhibit. Admission is free, and reservations are required. Register for the reception at www.hillelcolorado.org/artopening.

We hope this exhibit will offer a new perspective on the horrors children faced in the Holocaust,” said Kelli Theis, Executive Director and exhibit curator. “Exhibits such as these are necessary to help ensure history does not repeat itself.”

Included in the exhibit are works from such renowned Holocaust artists as Mary Costanza, A. David Crown, M.D., Samuel Bak, Sigmund Laufer, and Leo Haas. Three of the artists featured in the exhibit are also in the permanent collection of Yad Vashem; Samuel Bak, Mary Costanza, and Leo Haas.

Costanza’s “Kaddish for Six Million,” is also in the permanent collection of Yad Vashem, and is exhibited in its entirety at “Children in the Holocaust.” Samuel Bak is also in the memorial’s permanent collection and is currently the subject of a 30 year career retrospective, “An Arduous Road.” Leo Haas’ work was featured in the exhibit “Last Portrait: Painting for Posterity,” at Yad Vashem in 2012. Also included is a rare print by Sigmund Laufer, “Fear,” which makes its Colorado debut in the exhibit. “Fear” is part of Laufer’s lauded series, The Holocaust Prints (1960-1964).

To register for the event, go to www.hillelcolorado.org/artgallery. For more information, press contacts or questions: Lori Goldman, Development, Hillel of Colorado, at 303-777-2773 x 224 or lori@hillelcolorado.org. For more information about Hillel of Colorado, visit www.hillelcolorado.org