Untitled Document

ELLEN BENJOYA SKOTHEIM

Ellen Benjoya Skotheim has assembled a new exhibit of her work, entitled A PERSONAL ODYSSEY---FROM MAIMONIDES TO BENJOYA. She will give a presentation to Ivri-NASAWI on Wednesday, November 8, 2000 in the "Conversations on Roots & Identity" series at the home of Liliane Dammond. Some of her work will also appear at a special evening organized by the American Sephardi Federation at the Center for Jewish History on November 14, 2000.
The entire exhibit is slated to appear in the 2001-2002 season at Yeshiva University's new Art Museum at he Center for Jewish History, and will be cosponsored in part by Sephardic House.

A Personal Odyssey from Maimonides to Benjoya combines contemorary art and famly textiles from the Ottoman Empire with Sephardic history. Benjoya's work examines her family, Sephardic Jews who left Spain after the Spanish Expulsion in 1492 and migrated to the Ottoman empire where they remained until the beginning of World War I. Then they emigrated to Cuba, South America and the United States. Using a personal lens, this exhibit focuses on a 500-year period of history.
Ellen Benjoya Skotheim studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and received a B.A. in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkely, as well as an M.A. in Urban Planning and Design from Antioch College in San Francisco. She has studied watercolor painting with Howardina Pindell, printmaking with Anthony Peter Gorny, and papermaking with Karen Stahlecker. Solo exhibits of her work include The Norwegian Seamen's Church Gallery, New York, 1995, the Norwegian Trade Council, New York, 1996, the University of Arizona Campus Christian Center, Tucson, 1996, and the Norwegian Seamen's Church Gallery in San Pedro, 1997.

Ivri-NASAWI is seeking financial support on behalf of Ellen Benjoya Skotheim to sponsor a catalogue of her work, "A Personal Odyssey---From Maimonides to Benjoya," which will form a part of her traveling exhibition, 2001-2002. Please addresses inquiries to: Director, Art Development, Ivri-NASAWI, 1033 N. Orlando Ave., Los Angeles CA 90069, or call (323) 650-3157 for information.