“The Dilemma of Memory: Maine Artists and the Holocaust” features works by photographer Judy Ellis Glickman; sculptor Robert Katz; painters George Mason, Leonard Meiselman, and Robert Moskowitz; printmaker, the late Dorothy Schwartz; and poets Tony Brinkley, Mark Melnicove, Anna Bat-Chai Wrobel, Lee Sharkey, and Martin Steingesser.
This exhibit was the brainchild of Meiselman and HHRC Program Director David Greenham. Poet Lee Sharkey was invited to join in the planning and the exhibit came together with help from all the artists involved. When the planning for the exhibit began more than a year ago, Dorothy “Dee Dee” Schwartz had agreed to participate but passed away last spring. Thanks to her family and many dear friends, her work is included in the show as planned.
The exhibit intermingles visual art and poetry, spread throughout the HHRC’s Klahr Center to create a compelling and thought-provoking experience.
In addition to the visual art and poetry, the exhibit includes the stories of two Maine Holocaust survivors whose letters, photos and papers are included in the HHRC archives. Dr. Rudy Haas served as a physician at Bates College from 1947 to 1973, and was the chief of staff and president of the staff at Central Maine Medical Center. Survivor Manfred Kelman served 36 years in the U.S. Army, and retired as a colonel.
The exhibit will run through Wednesday, Dec. 3. The HHRC is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and evenings during events. The exhibit can be seen on weekends and evenings by appointment.
An official opening celebration will be held from 4-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, and will feature readings by the poets and an opportunity to meet many of the visual artists. In addition, the program will feature a brief performance by Maria Wagner entitled “Soliloquy 1 for Clarinet” written by Maine composer Elliot Schwartz and performed in memory of his wife, Dorothy, whose prints are included in the show.
The opening event is free and will feature snacks and drinks. The performance portion of the event will begin at 5:30 p.m.
The Michael Klahr Center is at 46 University Drive. For more information, call 207-621-3530.
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- “Enigma” by Leonard Meiselman
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- Exhibit organizer, artist Leonard Meiselman, shown with his work “Enigma,” has been planning and working on this exhibition for over a year. “I am continually amazed and fascinated by the ongoing outpouring of memoirs, documentaries, paintings, and poems – and now an opera and a new major film – 69 years after the Holocaust ended. Artists, writers, and filmmakers are still finding some essential energy in Holocaust themes,” he said. “Why does the Holocaust draw this amount of obsessive attention?”
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