TALLITOT: Wearable Ritual Art-Gallery Opening February 4, 2010

TALLITOT: Wearable Ritual Art - Gallery Opening Feb 4 @ Osher Marin JCC

In an effort to highlight the artistic talent of local Jewish women and educate the community about the beauty, tradition and significance of Jewish prayer shawls, the Osher Marin JCC's Center for Jewish Life is presenting an art exhibit on TALLITOT: Wearable Ritual Art. Featuring silk painted tallitot by Nancy Pechner and woven tallitot by Judy Calder, the exhibit will grace the walls of the Isaacs Gallery at the JCC through the end of March. The opening reception at 7pm on February 4th is free and open to the public and will include demonstrations and lessons on how to tie tzitzit.

Nancy Pechner, www.silkheart.com, has been making custom designed, hand painted tallitot since 1995. A 1984 graduate of U.C. Berkeley, she was a Wexner Heritage Foundation Fellow in 1996-98 and a Wexner Heritage Foundation Leadership Liaison in 1999-200. She is the Founder and Lifetime Director of the Jewish Community High School of the Bay and has been an art specialist at URJ Camp Newman since 2007.

Judy Calder, www.fiber-maven.com, was introduced to fiber arts by her grandmother who taught her to knit, crochet and embroider. After graduating from San Francisco State in 1989, she set up a weaving studio in her home and has been weaving ever since. In 1991, she wove a tallit for her daughter's Bat Mitzvah and since then she has been weaving tallitot and other judaica for clients coast to coast. Most recently, Judy has been experimenting with 3-dimensional works woven with plastic bags. These ornamental tallitot will be part of the exhibit at the Osher Marin JCC.

For information on Tallitot: Wearable Ritual Art, visit www.marinjcc.org and click on Center for Jewish Life.

Official Website: http://www.marinjcc.org