Cleveland Synagogue's Ark is Guarded by Some Fierce Beasts

JEWISH DAILY FORWARD
By Menachem Wecker

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OHIO---The ark at Cleveland’s Orthodox Green Road Synagogue looms on an intimidating platform above the congregation. Alternating tan and umber rays — evocative of the divine lights that emanate from the sun in ancient Egyptian art and of St. Francis’s stigmata in Christian paintings — culminate in diamond-shaped niches above the chairs reserved for synagogue officials. There is, as one would expect, an eternal light, and beneath it, a depiction of the Ten Commandments: the double-humped variety recalling the McDonald’s logo. But the two fierce beasts guarding the ark in the synagogue — which traces its roots back to immigrants from Marmaresher Sziger, Hungary, who built a congregation in Cleveland’s Woodland Hills neighborhood in 1910 — are unusual. [link]

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National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary

CITY BEAT
By Nick Swartsell

The first tombstone of Salmon P. Chase, an anti-slavery lawyer and the Chief Justice
of the U.S. Supreme Court is on display at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

OHIO---The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center celebrated its 10th anniversary Sunday. After contention about its creation and financial struggles early in its existence, the museum and conference center looks to be on a very positive trajectory. Despite debt and a $1 million-plus operating deficit as recently as 2011, the Freedom Center has proven resilient. A July 2012 merger with the Museum Center has helped, as well as contributions from donors and the Center’s continually nationally recognized exhibitions and events. Attendance revenue is up 35 percent at the Center, a Cincinnati Enquirer article says, and the Center’s endowment is growing. On a personal note, this is one of my favorite places in the city, and the news that it’s doing well is great to hear indeed. [link]

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Bold Color, Pop Culture and Religious Ecstasy: the Art of Corita Kent at MOCA Cleveland

THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
By Steven Litt

OHIO---The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland prides itself on being an up-to-the-minute kind place that serves as Northeast Ohio's window on the latest doings in the art world. This summer, however, it's taking a vacation from its typical role with a retrospective glance at the colorful, ecstatic and faith-infused art of Sister Mary Corita, whose career peaked in the 1960s and '70s when she taught at a Catholic college in Los Angeles and then broke away to become an independent artist.[link]

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Bible Museums Across the U.S. Range from Scholarly to Colorful

MCDONDOUGH VOICE
By Kelsey Dallas

Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington, D.C.

In a few years, families won't be limited to exploring presidential monuments or walking along the National Mall on vacations to Washington, D.C. They'll also have access to a new Bible museum, scheduled to open in 2017 just a few blocks away from some of America's most famous tourist attractions. The project is sponsored by the family that owns Hobby Lobby. Its nonprofit organization, Museum of the Bible, also funds a traveling exhibit of biblical artifacts and a Bible curriculum for high school students. [link]

Further clues can be found in the Bible exhibits already in operation. Check out these unique sites across the country, which range from scholarly to colorful:

1. Museum of Biblical Art, New York City
2. Dunham Bible Museum, Houston
3. Library of Congress Bible Collection, Washington, D.C.
4. Museum of Biblical Art, Dallas Opened in 2013
5. Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington, D.C. 
6. The Bible Museum, Goodyear, Arizona
7. BibleWalk, Mansfield, Ohio 
8. Treasuring the Word, Sevierville, Tennessee

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Hinduism's Yoga Exhibit Soothes, Illuminates at Cleveland's Art Museum

CLEVELAND JEWISH NEWS
By Carlo Wolf

“Yoga: The Art of Transformation” at Cleveland Museum of Art

OHIO---Yoga’s widening influence on art and culture, starting in ancient India, is on fulsome, sensuous display at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Wandering from room to room in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall engenders a feeling of peace – if, perhaps, not quite the enlightenment the yogis and yoginis were said to attain. A blend of all kinds of art, from ancient sculptures to golden-hued paintings to garish, mystical woodcarvings, along with vintage photography and magazines, “Yoga: The Art of Transformation” delights the eye and stimulates less visible neural pathways. Organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and curated by Debra Diamond, associate curator of South and Southeast Asian Art there, it debuted at the Sackler last October. Cleveland is its final stop. [link]

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Former President's Mandela and Walesa to Receive the International Freedom Conductor Awards

THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
By John Faherty

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

OHIO---Lech Walesa was a Cold War rock star. Religious and political expression were nonexistent and workers had no rights. Nelson Mandela had superhuman resolve in his fight again the racism and violence of apartheid and was central to the end of a hateful regime in South Africa. Both men belong on the Mount Rushmore of 20th century freedom fighters, and both men will be honored this summer by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Walesa will come from Poland to Cincinnati to receive the International Freedom Conductor Award. Mandela, who died in December, will be represented by his great-grandson, Luvuyo Mandela. The ceremony will take place Aug. 23. [link]

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