As springtime awakens our landscape with tweeting birds and budding trees, so too are our artistic souls ready for renewal. The longer days provide more natural light for creation, and we exit the hibernation of winter ready to reconnect.
Come by the Minnesota JCC – Capp Center St. Paul on Sunday, April 19, between 2-4 p.m. for a drop-in collage workshop and art materials swap. This hands-on meetup is free of charge and the third in a series sponsored by TC Jewfolk and the Jewish Arts Collective (JAC).
“The Art Materials Swap + Collage Workshop series is open to everyone!” said Robyn Awend, director of arts engagement at the Minnesota JCC.
“We especially encourage artists, makers, and anyone with a creative spark — whether you’re a seasoned professional, a casual hobbyist, or someone simply curious to try something new,” Awend said. “It’s a space to share, exchange, and explore together. All are welcome and encouraged to join in.”
Jewish. Arts. Collective.
“JAC is a community of artists, where making, sharing, and reflecting are all grounded in Jewish wisdom and a feeling of collective identity,” said Awend.
These are challenging times, making it critical for Jewish artists to have spaces to connect, support, and uplift each other.
“At its heart, the Collective creates a sense of belonging, resilience, and hope, reminding us that art can be a powerful force for healing, processing and deep connection,” Awend said.
Lucy Marshall is the featured artist for the April meet-up.
“It is going to be such a sweet gathering!” Marshall said. “We will have loads of amazing art supplies for participants to bring home, and folks will have the opportunity to create collage art in our shared workshop space. I am so looking forward to what wisdom and beauty we’ll co-create together!”
Marshall has a meaningful theme planned.
“The event takes place during the Omer, a period of counting days between Pesach and Shavuot, marking the Israelites’ journey from Mitzrayim (Egypt/the narrow place) to revelation at Mount Sinai,” she explained. “In our collaborative collage project, participants will be invited to reflect on their own journeys, both personal and communal — Where have you been? Where are you going?”
Based on her experience both in her personal life and as an educator, Marshall said: “I know people are most creative when they feel a sense of belonging. JAC has been a generative, meaningful space where everyone is both a teacher and a learner. I am in awe of the boundless creativity and wisdom within our local Jewish artist community.”
While each artist brings a unique perspective, the shared Jewish lens remains vital.
“[It] cultivates my own feeling of belonging by providing a shared grounding of stories, values, and traditions with the other participants,” Marshall said. “It’s exciting to explore how Jewishness shapes our artistic works in such unique ways. I believe art is not passive; by co-creating in a decidedly Jewish space, our art actively shapes Judaism and our Jewish community. This mutuality really nourishes me.”
Vibrant Featured Artist
Just like spring, Marshall’s creative endeavors are varied and rich with the cycle of life.
“Mainly, I am a writer,” she said. “I love to write ritual, poetry, and personal narrative. I consider Jewish tradition to be my artistic ‘raw material’ that I am inheriting, responding to, reshaping, and offering as a contribution to new Jewish futures. I also play with other mediums like collage, songwriting, and, very recently, linocut.”
She’s currently creating new rituals for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences.
“I am leading a project called ‘Seeking Shleimut: A Postpartum Deck of Jewish Wisdom,’ which will be a deck of 40 beautifully illustrated kavanah (intention) cards and an accompanying guidebook to support new parents on a spiritual journey towards hope and wholeness (shleimut).”
Nature and Judaism nourish Marshall’s creativity.
“I’m always inspired by working with the Seven Species, which feels really resonant with springtime,” she said. “Connecting with the earth’s cycles helps me find balance and meaning in my daily rhythms. The Jewish calendar is very important to me, and I orient around its four New Years, including Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the new moon of the current Hebrew month, which includes the Passover holiday. During Nissan, I consider which practices and patterns I am ready to let go of, and which ways of being might bring more openness and freedom into my life and the world around me.”
Marshall will encourage participants at the April meet-up to reflect and bring intentionality to the process.
“As adrienne maree brown writes, ‘What we pay attention to grows.’ During this springtime of renewal and growth, I’m planting new seeds of my attention to prioritize relationships, nurture my artistic self, and co-create spaces of Jewish belonging,” she said.
The event remains a “come as you are” and welcoming opportunity for all, and Marshall understands from personal experience the demands of daily living and the impact on one’s artistic expression.
“In this season of my life as a busy parent with young children, I will take any opportunity I get to be creative!” she said. “There is no wrong way to show up in this space.”
All materials will be provided, and participants can also bring and take gently used artistic supplies.
“Grab something new that catches your eye, swap with old supplies from home if you have them, and, if you’d like, cut, paste, and co-create with others in a shared collage,” Marshall said. “Art supplies can be an unexpectedly effective source of creative inspiration! Come join this warm, welcoming, and non-judgmental community just as you are.”