Gut Yontif: A Patchwork Holiday Experience
The Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives will celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot with a one-night-only, participatory experience featuring Pittsburgh artist Oreen Cohen.
On Sunday, Oct. 20, Cohen will be delivering a two-hour artistic performance inspired by the themes and historic significance of the Sukkot holiday.
Enter a sculptural Sukkah (a temporary hut-like structure built during Sukkot) where visitors can participate in Cohen’s celebration of the autumn harvest.
Inspired by the rich colors, textures, and life stories showcased in the Louise Silk: A Patchwork Life exhibition, the Gut Yontif: A Patchwork Holiday Experience series invites emerging artists to reimagine the themes of Sukkot, Chanukah, Tu B’Shvat, and Purim in new works of art.
Often said after the evening service that marks the start of a Jewish holiday, Gut Yontif is a Yiddish greeting that means “have a good holiday!”
Experience these holidays like never before through their unique artistic lenses.
This program is supported through a grant from the SteelTree Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
Admission
Admission to this public program is $5 for regular visitors and FREE for History Center members.
Admission includes access to the Louise Silk: A Patchwork Life exhibition.
For additional questions, please contact [email protected].
About Sukkot
Sukkot is one of the three major festivals in Judaism and is both an agricultural festival of Thanksgiving and a commemoration of the 40-year period during which the children of Israel wandered in the desert after leaving slavery in Egypt, living in temporary shelters as they traveled.
About the Artist
Oreen Cohen is a first-generation American of Israeli-Moroccan descent living and working in Pittsburgh, Pa. Cohen works as a sculptor, painter, mother, and cultural programmer. She received her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University (2014) and BFA from the University at Buffalo (2008). Working in sculptural metalwork, drawing, and installation, Oreen has developed large-scale public and private commissions in curious locations. She has been active over the past 20 years, participating and collaborating in exhibitions and public commissions nationally and internationally.
Along with group exhibitions and special projects, in the last seven years, Oreen’s main focus has been designing, engineering, and fabricating large-scale permanent steel and glass public artworks in Pittsburgh, Pa., in a partnership business, OOA Designs. Together creating works for Wightman Park, Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh (2020), Emerald View Park-Pittsburgh (2022), OOA has since dissolved in 2023. Curatorial projects include: “When Artists Enter the Factory” at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, FIGMENT Sculpture Project (Governors Island, NYC), Flint Public Art Project (Flint, MI), and CerCCa Casamarles in Catalonia, Spain. She has received the Investing in Professional Artists grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowments and a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant. Cohen has had solo exhibitions at 707 Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pa., Bunker Projects, and Transformer Gallery Washington, DC.
Oreen has just completed a residency at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans in Fall 2023 with new energy in their studio practice to combine drawing, painting glass, and metal fabrication processes. Upcoming residency includes M.A.D.E in San Miguel de Allende, MX (Spring 2024). Follow the process here or on Instagram @oco.art.
Gut Yontif: A Patchwork Holiday Experience programs:
• Saturday, Dec. 28 – Chanukah: Rosie Kurth will display painted silks for Chanukah, inspired by candlelight.
• Thursday, Feb. 13 – Tu BiShvat: Lydie Rosenberg, alongside Louise Silk, will host a Tu BiShvat seder. The table will become the sculptural centerpiece to this event, featuring works and materials from Lydia and Louise’s art practices as elements of the table design. Tabletop sculptures will be playful props as we explore notions of nature, sustenance, belonging/longing and locality in this interactive event.
• Wednesday, March 12 – Purim: Olivia Tucker will create an open-hearted and enveloping spiritual embrace for Purim.