Jerusalem displays art of children who fled the South on October 7

• Published date: 16 March 2024
• Author: JENNA ROMANO
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

But the group of young art students who were hosted here over the past four months were definitely not typical kids

SLS Art Academy, a children's painting workshop run by international artists Sarah Lydia Singer and Elisheva Marciano, was set to open at the MOIJA this past fall. After Oct. 7, their reality changed. Suddenly, there was an obvious need to offer this program for some of the displaced children hosted in Jerusalem.

An art exhibit for evacuee children

Both Singer, who founded the art workshop, and Daniel Niv, director of MOIJA since 2020, were deeply in sync on not only continuing to run the program but doing it free of charge for evacuated children. Niv offered space within the museum, and thanks to funding from Targum Shlishi and other donations, SLS Art Academy was in full swing by November 2023 – providing lessons, transportation, and materials for 30 students who were evacuated from Kibbutz Or HaNer.

Over the next four months, Singer and Marciano taught their workshop to the children, who ranged in age from six to 13. "Art is a weapon," says Singer. "For me, it is an intense word, but it is intended." In this case, it's a weapon of self-expression at a time when both collective and individual trauma make it more relevant than ever. They focused on passing down artistic tradition, teaching their students how to connect to the world through painting from masters like [French painter Claude] Monet and [Italian painter Giuseppe] Arcimboldo.

The results were surprising for everyone involved. "The kids have tremendous enthusiasm to paint, to create amazing artwork," says Singer. "I am totally in awe." Enthusiastic directors paired with a unique setting made it an empowering experience at a pertinent time – one they'll likely never forget. "Now they can say they studied painting in a museum," comments Niv.

At the end of each session, instead of looking at images of trauma, Niv, Singer, and Marciano found themselves impressed with the diversity of emotion shown. Although most of the displaced students were not victims or witnesses of the Oct. 7 massacre themselves, many of their friends or family members were. "I was surprised," says Niv. "I thought we would find more dark things, see the trauma, but they also really wanted to express good things, positive things."

"There was a contrast between their trauma and what they expressed," adds Marciano, who is also a certified photo-therapist. "You would think they'd express...