More To The Story with Staley: New Art Exhibit

The Jewish Cultural Center is debuting a new exhibit on recovering from the pandemic

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – It’s an art exhibit, in all of its color and glory, right when you walk into the Jewish Cultural Center in Chattanooga.

Program Director Ann Treadwell culled through over 200 entries, whittling the work down to 36 artists, from nine different states and Israel.
The theme is “Out Of Darkness Into Light.” What does it mean?

“I thought long and hard about how people thought about COVID-19. This gallery is not about the depressing part. It’s about the transition from darkness to light. It’s not just about COVID, but life in general.”

50 percent of the artwork on display is from local artists. Some of the work has a Jewish theme. And some is secular.

Some works are for sale. Some are not. There’s even one original print from the dark days of World War Two.

All in all, the pandemic made Treadwell’s job here a lot tougher. But there was a silver lining of sorts.

“Because of COVID, my original two dates had to be shelved. So I had to come up with a third deadline. But that actually gave me more time to figure out what I wanted.”

The center is also just beginning its annual film series. Five films for five consecutive weeks.

The films are Jewish-themed. Meant to educate and entertain.

The films come from all over the world, to include the USA.

It’s the 13th year of this film series. As always, a committee screens many films, before making its final choices.

STEPHEN BLACK, CO-DIRECTOR / FILM SERIES;
“We produce a spread sheet. Everybody ranks a film one through five. Anything below four is discarded. When we get to about ten films, we make the final choice. And go from there.”

The film series runs thru September 23rd. The art exhibit will be front and center until early December.
Dave Staley, News 12.