Oral Interview with Anna Lutsky for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Helen Aqua. Anna was born in Tunis in 1952. She describes her family history, mostly situated within Tunisia, where her artistic influences came from her mother and sister. She recalls going to a strict French school in Tunis until the age of 16, when her family moved to a diverse kibbutz in Israel. She discusses the beginning of her art career as a young mother at the age of 22. Anna describes how her artwork acted as diaries for the places she lived throughout her life, including France, Italy and Cyprus, where the landscapes were the common sources of inspiration. She talks about how her art evolved into a mixed-media style that included painting on objects like furniture or clothing to repurpose their form and function, but one of her largest reoccurring themes remains nature. Anna tells of her most prominent memories of galleries and exhibitions where her art has been shown; this includes turning her home into a gallery, but also participating in World Expos abroad and being commissioned to represent France and Canada with her pieces. She further discusses how her art is more secular than reflective of Jewish connections.

Oral Interview with Cynthia Minden for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Bill Gruenthal via remote Zoom call. Cynthia was born in Toronto in 1953 and describes growing up into a family full of musicians, including her parents, who also admired visual arts. She talks about her professional background in classical music as a flautist where she was a member of ensembles, a music teacher, and an arts administrator. Cynthia speaks about her brothers moving to Vancouver and her love of rural living as inspiration for her to move from Toronto to Denman Island. Cynthia discusses her beginnings as an artist through making baskets and subsequently sculpture, collage, surface design, and other art forms. She talks about translating her art practice into therapeutic work through equine facilitated wellness, where people can connect with nature and do be guided through art projects. She speaks about her work in exhibits including the political inspiration behind her pieces: from themes of refugees and migration to environmentalism and making art from reclaimed objects.

Interview with Marsha Ablowitz for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Marsha (she/her) is a Jewish lesbian born in Vancouver. Marsha discusses her family’s origins both in Canada, and as immigrants from Europe. She tells stories of her immediate family in Winnipeg and Vancouver. She talks about her heterosexual marriage, and how she didn’t realize she was interested in women until after getting married. She explains her little exposure to queer Jews outside of her uncle Max, and how she experienced discrimination more through racism against her husband, than through anti-Semitism or homophobia in the community. Marsha talks about being aware of the Holocaust and Jewish issues as a kid, being involved in Jewish youth groups into her twenties, and eventually becoming a social worker. She describes her community initiatives within Jewish community organizations, teaching women’s self defense classes and empowering women and LGBT communities. Marsha closes the interview by talking about Quirk-e, a queer writing collective she is presently involved in, life with her partner Maribel during COVID, and her connection to feminist counselling and women’s health movements across Canada.

Oral History Interview with Nora Patrich for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Carol Herbert. Patrich was born in Argentina in 1952 and speaks about her upbringing between Argentina, Israel and the United States. She discusses her exposure to political activism and Latin American expressionist art throughout her formative years, including mentorship within her father’s politically charged arts collective named the Spartacus Movement. She tells her experience of the military coup in Argentina during the ‘70s, that forced her into exile in Israel with young children after her husband was assassinated. She explains how this led to a life of traveling activism denouncing Argentina’s past military atrocities, including anti-Semitic genocide, and fighting for human rights through art and protest. Patrich’s primary art mediums are painted murals and sculptures; she discusses their public installments into places like past concentration camps and military bombing sites, and how her art will always be political. She closes by talking about doing mosaic work, independent book printing and publishing, and how there is a documentary about her stories of Argentina.

Summary: Oral Interview with Pnina Granirer for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon as a follow-up to an interview from 2021. Pnina recalls her earliest memories of producing art at school in Romania, and learning illustration and painting home decor in Haifa. She explains how her art career truly started when her and her husband moved to Illinois as she didn’t have a work visa and thus spent her time painting and crafting. She discusses inspiration from her children, mixing medias and art genres, and the exploration of making and learning. She talks about themes in her paintings coming from universal human experiences such as identity and existentialism, and the only painting she ever did in regards to the Holocaust and its showing in Tel Aviv. She speaks about her working in galleries and pushing for galleries to be made in Jewish institutions in Vancouver. Pnina talks about the creation of Artist in Our Midst and other art crawls in Vancouver, and her experiences teaching arts on Gabriola Island. She closes with an encouraging message for upcoming artists in Vancouver and the importance of art education in the art world’s future.

Oral History Interview with Sima Elizabeth Shefrin for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Brynn Gillies. Shefrin was born in Ottawa in 1949. . She is married to Bob Bossin, a Canadian folk musician, and they live together on Gabriola Island. She spent her youth part-time in Italy, surrounded by family fabric-workers and tailors. She describes how this informed her enthusiasm for fabric as a medium, and how she aims to convey stories through sewn projects. The name of Shefrin’s studio as well as her website is Stitching for Social Change, which she explains how she does fabric arts while integrating folk art tradition with activism, including feminism, anti-war sentiments, and reclamation of her Jewish heritage. Most notably, Shefrin tells the story of the Middle East Peace Quilt which aimed to discuss what peace would look like between Israel and Palestine with participants sending her quilt squares with their visions of peace from around the world. Shefrin also shares her exploration of comic and illustrative arts working on Jewish themed children's books and comics about her own life, including her husband's cancer diagnosis and life over the Covid pandemic.

Oral History Interview with Tanya Bub for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon. Tanya was born in Minnesota in 1969. Tanya speaks about her family history and her upbringing in Beit Yanai, Israel as a child as well as London, Ontario. Tanya discusses her life in academia while also focused on parenthood and finances, and how she transitioned into an art career in Vancouver. Tanya describes her art as part of the ‘eco-art’ genre, as her mediums are often natural, like driftwood, or recycled and/or found materials. Tanya tells stories of finding community by creating interactive sculptures, especially driftwood people and animals, shared through public art installations across B.C.