2020, no doubt, has been a special year. It has not, however, hindered the joy of the MFA’s “Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights” celebration, which was relocated this year from the Museum out into eight Boston-area neighborhoods. Conceptualized by Tova Speter and coordinated by the Jewish Arts Collaborative, Brighter Connected consisted of 8 site-specific public art installations in empty storefront windows from Newton to Chelsea, to share the light of Hanukkah and designed for socially distanced viewing. Lam Partners had the opportunity to collaborate with two of the talented public artists on their Hanukkah installations: Tova Speter and Silvina Mizrahi.
Speter’s installation is about connectedness. She led zoom art workshops with over 200 students from 8 Jewish day schools and included their creations in her piece. These postcards were suspended within the space, and illuminated with blacklight, revealing secret messages and graphics that the students inscribed. Speter’s meticulous weaving pattern frames the central glowing yellow and orange “eye”. At a particular viewing spot outside, the eye comes into perfect alignment. Blacklights were mounted on the floor beneath the windows to be hidden from view. A single spotlight blacklight illuminates the mandala at rear, shielded from view by a custom constructed valence.
More here on Tova Speter’s piece
Silvina Mizrahi’s piece exudes the feeling of celebrations, connecting light, dance, and feelings of joy. Her piece includes dancing figures created by older adults from Hebrew Senior Life and young girls from “Divas Mentoring Divas”. Lighting adds additional depth to the piece with blue colored shadows projected onto the adjacent walls. White accent lighting highlights the dancing figures, each outfitted with unique costumes and accessories.
More here on Silvina Mizrahi’s piece
It was such a delight to work alongside these two brilliant Artists, and seeing locals peek through the storefront windows during and after the setup/installation process. The installations were up from December 8-18th, 2020 during the celebration of Hanukkah.
