Monday I am taking down my father's art exhibit at HUC-JIR. I am happy I had the opportunity to do the exhibit, and I want to thank everyone at HUC-JIR.
For more than 40 years, I have thought about doing an exhibit of my father's art work. Sam Hollingsworth and I were having lunch one day in January of this year at Park Chili in Northside, and I remarked to him that my father would have been 100 years old this year had he lived. I went on to say that I have wanted to have an exhibit of my father's art work, but wanted a place that would be safe and would protect the paintings. Sam came up with the idea to contact Rabbi Zola, who he knew, and from there we contacted Dr. Jonathan Cohen at HUC-JIR.
The Opening of the exhibit on Sunday, June 26, 2011 was only four days shy of what would have been Si's 100th birthday. The art show was his first solo art exhibit, and was attended by both of my brothers and many of my cousins that knew him. One thing I learned from our discussions with Dr. Cohen about some of the pieces is that Si Zigler had a greater and deeper knowledge of Jewish culture and religion than I ever knew. Yes, he could read and understand Yiddish, but I never knew that his knowledge of Hebrew may have been as equally developed. Here was a man that said little about his knowledge of Judaism, but expressed a greater knowledge through his art work than I ever realized.
My cousin Toby and I hope to produce a short video of the exhibit and share it with other Jewish museums around the country. Perhaps there are other cities that might like to enjoy Si Zigler's art work.
Simeon Zigler, self portrait, on paper.
The Fiddler, watercolor on paper by Si Zigler.
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1 comment:
Dear Fred,
Glad to hear the exhibition has gone well. I am interested to hear that the exhibition has meant you got to know your Father a little bit more with his knowledge of Judaism, and Hebrew. Taking down a show is always a bit sad, but the project to produce a short video is an great idea.
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