Five Jewish artists, ages ranging from 5-64, are exhibiting at Dayton Memorial Library at Regis University in Denver. All are members of a very diverse and rich Jewish community in Boulder and Westminster, CO.  In an exhibit entitled, Contrasting Textures, BGOLD ben Ruach, Leo Sandler, Micah Sandler, Jude Turgel, Carmela Turgel and Aneesha Parrone explore environmental stewardship as an integral part of being Jewish.  Torah commands it of us all. According to Seder Bereishit, the Order of Creation, all of creation is “good” and we have certain obligations toward the love, care and protection of the environment and non-human living creatures.

We have a choice in how we perceive the world around us, evolution, revolution or dissolution.  The reciprocity among the individual human being, the collective community, the immediate environment and Mother Earth is at once intimate as well as an historic evolution of what we have become and where we are going. We have a strong desire to be celebratory, but often turn a blind eye to the degradation of waste.

Whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not, we are in collaboration with Nature. The choice of conscious participation is ours. Will we evolve with nature?  Will nature revolt in an intensified climate change, global warming?  Will we watch the dissolution of the beauty of our planet into aridity?  Or will we dissolve the aggression of wasteful patterns into a softening of the heart of stewardship; and will we nurture life in a collaboration with nature?

This exhibit demonstrates a commitment of these artists to share their vision and promote environmental stewardship.  Contrasting Textures: Jewish Artists Explore Nature and Ecology is open during library hours and will be available through Dec 15. The Library is located at 3333 Regis Boulevard, Denver, Colorado.