A powerful new art installation at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia shows the faces of those who experienced unimaginable horror at the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Philly Live’s Sheila Watko spoke to two of the artists behind “Their Portraits: Philadelphia Artists Honor October 7th Hostages.”
More than 200 painted portraits of Israeli hostages will be on display at Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
Local artists are shining a light on the hundreds of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas on October 7.
Philadelphia artist Sivia Katz Braunstein and a group of fellow women artists - Nancy Gordon, Deborah Morris Zakheim, Judy Rohtbart, Jane Bennett, Carol Lert, Sue Seif, Carol Sack Denmark – volunteered their time and talent to paint portraits of each hostage, including the dead, the freed and those still in captivity.
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“In our core exhibition, we document how the American Jewish community has demonstrated resilience and responded to crises throughout U.S. history,” Chief Public Engagement Officer at the Weitzman Emily August said in a news release. “What these artists have done in honoring the hostages will become a part of the ongoing story of American Jewish life that we strive to explore every day in our Museum.”
This special art installation spans the museum's third-floor atrium and will be open from March 8 through April 14.
For more information visit theweitzman.org.
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