ArtShare Gallery features exhibit by Holocaust scholar, adjunct faculty
By Stefanie Kilts
“We all need to heal,” said carolyn h. manosevitz, mfa. Her artwork – three-dimensional paintings on paper and paper sculptures – addresses the human experience after a catastrophe.
In manosevitz’s case, this catastrophe is the Shoah, a Hebrew term used by contemporary scholars in reference to the Holocaust. She has been involved in the world of Holocaust studies both in her art and her teaching for the past 15 years.
“I use the Shoah as a vehicle, a bridge to connect with my Christian and Muslim brothers and sisters,” she said.
The artist was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, the child of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine. Her father was the youngest in a family of 12 children and emigrated to Canada in the early part of the 20th century ahead of his large extended family.
By the late 1930s, when all of his remaining siblings wanted to come, Canada had closed its doors. Although he had desperately tried to obtain visas for them, he could not procure them. Her father’s brothers and sisters were all murdered in 1942 during the Shoah.
Her family’s heritage and history, and her journeys across the U.S. and the world, have led her to address the themes of healing and memory in her mixed-media art. Her exhibit, healing, will be shown in Glenwood Springs at the CMC ArtShare Gallery. The exhibit will showcase 20 works from her exhibit on spirituality, reconciliation and healing in the shadow of the Holocaust.
World travels, history inform art
She recalls one such journey when she visited the oldest university in Poland, in Kraków. She was listening to a lecture by the archbishop of Poland, and one line especially spoke to her.
“He said the absence of the Jewish people had left a ‘hole in the landscape,’” she said.
She was so struck by that line, especially by a religious leader in Poland, that she created the work hole in the landscape.
manosevitz has exhibited widely both in the U.S. and Canada. Her work is part of private and corporate collections in North America and Israel.
She also uses her exploration as an artist and scholar for teaching. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Colorado Mountain College for the past 15 years and is a visiting lecturer at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where she has taught Spirituality and the Holocaust since 1996.
She has also taught at the University of Texas, Southwest Texas State University, Austin Community College and St. Edward’s University (Texas).
The exhibit healing will be on display May 6 to June 24 at the CMC ArtShare Gallery at 802 Grand Ave. in Glenwood Springs. A free, public opening reception is set for Thursday, May 9, from 5 to 7 p.m. The artist will give a gallery talk at 6 p.m. during the opening reception.
The ArtShare Gallery is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 947-8367 or visit cmcartshare.com.