Studio of Her Own Women’s Art Center
Studio of Her Own, now located in Jerusalem’s Beit Hatzayar – the Litvinovsky Painter’s House – is both a space and a community for Jerusalem women artists. The Studio supports leading, unique art by women with the goal of encouraging multicultural discourse on contemporary art, facilitating a place for making art and mutual sharing of ideas, impacting the art field in Israel and abroad.
Studio of Her Own, as a home for women’s art, provides a physical space for making art, artist’s residencies for women artists, exhibitions, and special events and art activities by women from all sectors of Israeli society.
We are striving to provide the foundation for a vibrant, active community of women artists enriching the contemporary art discourse, facilitating mutual nurturing, creating connections with women making art in a wide range of creative mediums, encouraging collaborations with other artists from Israel and abroad.
In terms of tools and training sessions, Studio of Her Own provides professional and business development tools to women artists at all stages of professional development through unique programs and one-on-one mentoring.
Studio of Her Own is actively working to expand the representation of art by women in Israel and abroad, to expose their artworks to a broad audience, and encourage academic research on women’s art.
Jerusalem as our home is the source of great inspiration and impact. The city, as the interface for a rich spectrum of cultures, religions, and communities, enables us to create encounters between art and women over a broad range of identities, while simultaneously working to connect with women artists from all over the world.
Studio of Her Own is the first and only center in Israel for women’s art. As such, it is striving to create joint projects with women’s art centers abroad and with artists from all sectors of Israeli society and women artists abroad.
A center for art
Our new building will host exhibitions, special events, women artists’ residency programs, and courses.
Artists’ Residency Program
Our Residency Program is for women artists from Israel and abroad, providing opportunity especially for women artists with children and family obligations.
Training programs
Our INCUBATOR Program (“Hahamama”) promotes emerging women artists. The MAOF (“Momentum”) Program helps mid-career artists with their first steps into the international art arena, while we offer a business promotion course for artists in collaboration with the Jerusalem MATI Small Business Center for Entrepreneurs.
Hub
The Studio of Her Own Women’s Art Center is a hub for creative artists in all mediums – film, poetry, dance, theatre, and, of course, the visual arts. Studio of Her Own is a place for inspiration, mutual exchange of ideas, and artistic collaborations.
Research Center
Slated for 2021 is a Research Center on Women Artists in association with academic research institutions.
This is the opportunity for women creatives to submit proposals for exhibitions and artists’ residencies to use the Center for research and inspiration for their artwork.
Studio of Her Own was founded in 2010 as a platform for the promotion of young religious women artists in Jerusalem, and operated from a gallery/bomb shelter in the Katamonim neighborhood. The studio introduced a new, unique, and high-quality voice into the contemporary art scene in Israel, leaving its imprint as the first breakthrough project for art from the religious sector.
Studio of Her Own was active in bringing together very varied layers of population groups, such as groups of Ultraorthodox and Arab women, constituting a bridge for the creation of a dialogue and connection through art in the public sphere. The Studio’s multicultural projects became the agency for social change among the participants. Our city of Jerusalem is the crossroads of multicultural communities and ethnicities in a multiplicity of religions, becoming a wonderful platform for art activities.
Since 2010 through our numerous activities we have seen that the difficulties in developing a professional art career at the same time as raising a family and being able to earn a living are the same difficulties facing all women artists. We realized that there must be a place which women can call “a studio of their own.” We therefore established Studio of Her Own in the Litvinovsky Painter’s House – Beit Hatzayar.
Zipi Mizrachi, Founder and Director
Cultural entrepreneur Zipi Mizrachi is a university lecturer on art. In 2010 she founded Studio of Her Own, which she currently directs, as a platform for promoting women artists, now located in the Litvinovsky Painter’s House in Jerusalem.
She earned an MA in Musicology and Art History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MA in Gender Studies from the Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan. Mizrachi is a member of the Museums Council of the Israel Ministry of Culture.
Zipi Mizrachi was awarded the Genesis Prize for 2018 for advancing women; the Minister of Education Prize for Jewish creative arts, 2018; and the London Yaari Prize for 2010. Mizrachi completed the IVLP course on social advancement through art sponsored by the USA State Department in 2016.
Meital Manor, Artistic Director
Meital Manor is a curator and art advisor. She holds a BA and MA from Tel Aviv University. Meital also holds a certificate in Museology studies from the Tel Aviv University.
For the past 13 years she has been working as a curator. Among her most recent projects: “Lifting the Switch” a series of public art project in collaboration with the Tel Aviv Municipality (2020), “1:33 Minutes”, Maya Gallery, Tel Aviv (2020). Her upcoming exhibition “Autonomy” will open November 2021
Ronit Kark, Steering Committee Member
Prof. Ronit Kark founded and headed the Gender Studies program at the Bar-Ilan University. Since its founding, more than 100 women have graduated from the program, including Studio of Her Own Director and Founder Zipi Mizrachi. All of the graduates have created projects to encourage feminism in Israel. Prof. Kark is currently a consultant to a variety of organizations advancing women, and has been accompanying Studio of Her Own with her wise counsel since its establishment.
Artist Raya Bruckenthal, Steering Committee Member
Interdisciplinary artist Raya Bruckenthal graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem (with excellence) in 2000 and is currently a student in the Interdisciplinary Arts Master’s Degree Program at the Tel Aviv University. In 2010 she moved to Jerusalem and had a studio at the Talpiot Artists’ Studios, and now works at the New Gallery Artist Studios at Teddy Stadium. In 2014 she received the Ministry of Culture and Sport Award for the Encouragement of the Visual Arts. She is a lecturer at Ma’aleh Film School, Emunah College of Art, and Pardes School of Art.
Bruckenthal was a lecturer at the Sam Spiegel School of Film and Television (2009-2014) and the Department of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University (2005-2008).
Her work invites an alternative reading of concepts from Orthodox Jewish tradition which she blends with imagery from pop culture, film, and trash. She uses their power and impact to create a “controlled desecration of borders” enabling an open discourse on the nature of faiths and to engage on themes that may be socially taboo in Jewish and other cultures.
Her works are exhibited in galleries, at festivals, and in art spaces, such as Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Herzliya Museum of Art, Haifa Museum of Art, Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod, the Negev Museum of Art, Beer Sheva, Anna Ticho House-Israel Museum, Tel Aviv galleries Inga, Noga, and Contemporary, as well as in the galleries of the Artists’ Studios in Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem. Her works are in the collections of the Knesset, Haifa Museum of Art, Negev Museum of Art Beer Sheva, the Igal Ahouvi Collection, and other private collections in Israel and abroad.
Artist Heddy Abramowitz, Steering Committee Member
Born in Brooklyn, Abramowitz lives and works in Jerusalem. Until recently she lived in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. She mostly paints from observation, makes drawings, and photographs. Her constant themes engage in the urban landscape, Jerusalem beyond the cliché, self-portraits based on introspection, the Shoah as heritage and social interpretation. She began her art studies in the USA and continued studying painting in Israel with leading artist-teachers. Abramowitz shows her works in exhibitions in Israel and abroad, as well as blogging on culture and life in Israel in “Golden Ochre: Art and Jerusalem” and the occasional article as a writer for the Times of Israel. Heddy Abramowitz is one of the Studio of Her Own artist mentors.Mקן
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Studio of Her Own projects
Women as cultural leaders
With the support of the US Embassy in Israel. This is a joint project on a nationwide scale run by Studio of Her Own, Jerusalem, and Beit Hagefen Jewish-Arab Cultural Center, Haifa, with religious Jewish and Arab women artists in three “mixed cities” (with Jewish and Arab residents) – Haifa, Lod, and Jerusalem. The artists discussed issues of women as cultural, societal, and religious leaders, and, of course, issues referring to their creative artwork. The participants met once a month during 2018, and created a joint exhibition which was installed for during International Women’s Month 2019.
Embroidered Scaffolds
Realized with the support of The Jerusalem Foundation. Thanks to the Foundation’s generosity, for two and a half years women of the Studio of Her Own and Arab women embroiderers from east Jerusalem. The encounters created a warm and special connection between the embroiderers beyond the borders of language, differences in culture and religion, bridging the polarized political and geographical differences. Together we discovered during the sessions that we had more in common than our differences – as women, mothers, and creative artists living in a conservative religious society. The project culminated in a very well-received exhibit installed in Hansen House in February 2019, with numerous visitors.
Street exhibit of photographs by women survivors of violence
With the support of the Jerusalem Municipality Department of Plastic Art. This outdoor exhibition of photographs by women who survived violent abuse took place in centers addressing domestic abuse where arts workshops were held facilitated by Studio of Her Own artists who taught various arts techniques to women attending the centers, along with the therapeutic staff treating them as peers. One of the workshops, photography with smartphones, became an outdoor photo exhibit on the Schatz-Bezalel Streets Pedestrian Mall on International Women’s Day, 2016.
The Heterotopia Project
With the support of the Jerusalem Foundation and the Jerusalem Municipality’s Plastic Art Department. Art in the public space of the utraorthodox (haredi) Breslev community in Musrara was installed during 2013-2016. The artists of Studio of Her Own created spots of outdoor art throughout the neighborhood including murals, sculpture, photography and installations in pathways and on the streets. Project Curator was artist Shimon Pinto, who succeeded in creating a changed attitude of the residents to the public space. This change led to better civic conditions, better upkeep of the neighborhood, concern for the environment and residents’ more positive involvement in the outdoor space.
The Etz Chaim Project
With the support of the Leichtag Foundation. For two evenings, artists of Studio of Her Own “took over” the abandoned building of the legendary Etz Chaim Talmud Torah and heder which faces the Alliance Israelite building near the Mahane Yehuda market, to hold an exhibition, performances, and screenings. This was the first Talmud Torah founded outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, the preschool for those who would become the foremost Torah scholars of the city. The Studio artists exhibited the feminist viewpoints of “Torah of the Mothers” and the importance of this school as the foundation of Jewish religious culture in Jerusalem which is dwindling under the encroachment of real estate greed. The exhibition opened during the week of the Penitential Prayers between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur 5779/Fall 2018.
Collaborative art projects
We at Studio of Her Own are big believers in collaborative projects. Based on our experience, we know that with more members in a joint project, the energy is multiplied as are the results. Over the years, we formed many connections with groups, artists, and various bodies to bring our unique voice to as broad an audience as we can.
Our artist collaborations and various projects create connections with a variety of audiences reflecting the great variation along the spectrum of Israeli society in general and Jerusalem in particular.
Following are some of our joint projects:
Muslala – a mural was created in the Clal Building Synagogue in 2017 by artist Yael Buchbinder Shimoni.
The Jerusalem Biennale – murals in the city center in the public space on Hanevi’im Street (Prophets Street) by artist Avigail Fried, 2013.
Ahoti (“Sister”) – production of a catalog on women, religion, tradition, and art, 2019
MATI Jerusalem Entrepreneurship Center – initiated a course for the advancement of the professionalism and business development for emerging artists. The new course, titled “Business Creation,” began as a pilot in 2010 and is now a regularly offered course.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, and the Department of Curatorial Studies – for the production of a catalog of the exhibition Tseno Ureno, 2017.
Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem – production of the exhibition catalog integrating between the findings and items on display and the experience of the pop-up exhibition Andrelamusa, 2017.
David Yellin College of Education, Social Gallery, Sustainabiity Studies Department, Jerusalem – gallery exhibition by Studio of Her Own artists who are also being integrated into the lectures on gender and art in the various courses for the second semester 2020.
Yad Sarah Center for the Treatment of Domestic Violence – artists of Studio of Her Own volunteered to work with workshop facilitators in art activities during workshops with participants dealing with violence in the family. The artist volunteers ran art workshops for an entire year (2016) at the treatment center. They finally created several exhibitions, including an outdoor photography exhibition on the Schatz-Bezalel pedestrian mall, which began on International Women’s Day 2016 and remained hanging for six months.
The Jerusalem Municipality and the Department for Women in East Jerusalem – from 2016-2019 we held joint sessions with Arab women embroiderers from East Jerusalem to provide more status to the ancient practice of women embroidering, to promote the purchase of women’s creative products especially showcasing embroidery and fabric arts and to create a connection and bridge over the ideological and political abyss separating the communities. The sessions did create a warm and surprising connection; the results were exhibited at a well-received exhibition in the historical Hansen House, Jerusalem, February 2019.
