Jacqueline Kott-Wolle is a contemporary artist in Highland Park, Illinois whose paintings explore the people and experiences that have shaped her distinctly North American brand of Jewish identity. These people include Holocaust survivors like Kott-Wolle’s parents and others in her community growing up.

“They existed in living color for me – in their printed sundresses, socks and sandals, with numbers tattooed on their arms,” she writes. “Some of them had haunted looks in their eyes and seemed burdened with a profound sadness that kept them at the edge of anger while others were brimming with gratitude and optimism as they rebuilt their lives in Canada. All of them viewed my generation as walking miracles on earth.”

Join Kott-Wolle for a presentation and discussion of “Growing Up Jewish – Art & Storytelling,” a series of 35 oil paintings and stories about Jewish identity in North America and how it transmits from one generation to the next.

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Public programming at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; a Humanities New York CARES Grant with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the federal CARES Act; and other generous donors.

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