New Gallery Exhibit BLESS and More Early Fall Arts and Ideas Events Announced at JCC Manhattan

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan (MMJCCM)'s Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas has announced the early fall lineup of performances, conversations, and events happening in person in the renovated Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Auditorium and on the MMJCCM rooftop.

The early fall lineup will feature a conversation with clinical psychologist and parenting expert Becky Kennedy, known as Dr. Becky, in conversation about her new book, Good Inside, with New York Times bestselling author and host of the Dear Gabby podcast, Gabby Bernstein; Oy Gevalt special rooftop back-to-school comedy show; the return of MMJCCM dance programming with Tom Gold Dance; a rooftop screening of Steven Spielberg's adaptation of West Side Story; and a new gallery installation in The Laurie M. Tisch Gallery in the MMJCCM lobby: Bless, a contemporary graphic design exhibit. Additional fall programming will be announced at a later date.

Bless: Design for Good, a contemporary exhibit featuring the work of over 25 graphic designers, will open in The Laurie M. Tisch Gallery on September 8, and will be on display through December 31. The exhibit will feature graphic design works by contemporary Israeli designers, selected by the Shenkar Research Center for Israeli Design in collaboration with 3X3 Active Gallery. Bless is a collection of graphic works, made by various designers & artists from Israel, presenting both new and iconic pieces from the past decades. Through this collage of messages, tackling current event topics, audiences are invited to reflect on the world, and search for opportunities to better our society. Bless is free and open to the public during MMJCCM building hours. For more details, please visit mmjccm.org/upcoming-exhibit.

"With all that is going on in headlines and current events, my hope is that Bless will allow visitors to reflect on the state of our world, and take a moment for hope, healing, and reconnecting with the community," shares Udi Urman, Exhibit Curator and MMJCCM Director of the Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas. "The pieces from over 25 incredible Israeli artists will tackle themes ranging from human rights to global warming to unity to justice and peace, and much more. The power of art as a tool for healing will be on full display."

Artists on display in Bless include Adam Yekutieli, Arik Weiss, Ashger Zamana, Avihai Mizrahi, Danielle Weinberg, David Tartakover, Dede Bandaid & Nitzan Mintz, Eli Khromov, Faina Feigin, Anat Meshulam & Dor Chen, Jennifer Abessira, Kobi Franco, Lahav Halevy, Liron Lavi Turkenich, Matan Iontef, Naama Nechushtai, Neil Cohen, Noam Benatar, Oded Ben Yehuda, Omri Goldzak, Otte Wallish, Rotem Cohen-Soaye, Yaacov Shavit, and Zvi Narkis. Bless is curated by Michal Shapira and Tom Kohen.

Studio Arts classes, which reopened this summer, will continue to expand in the fall. The studios at the MMJCCM welcome beginners into a supportive, hands-on environment and offer students with intermediate to advanced skill levels an opportunity to master new, more complex techniques. This fall, ceramics classes will return to the MMJCCM for the first time since pre-pandemic, and additional visual arts classes have since reopened, including oil painting, watercolor, and drawing. For more details and to register: mmjccm.org/studio-art.

Conversations are sponsored by Zabar's and Zabars.com. Virtual programming in the Lambert Center is made possible by the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.

Gallery exhibits and programs are made possible with the generous support of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. Additional support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the generosity of individual donors.