Jewish center wants to elevate art

Until recently, arts at the Sabes Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park consisted of community theater. And community theater meant kids belting out "Oliver," "Annie" and "The Wizard of Oz."

"Those are great, fun shows," said Steve Barberio, "but they don't exactly speak to the Jewish experience."

Barberio is one part of a sustained, expensive, transformational change going on at the Sabes JCC. The organization recently launched a Center for Jewish Arts and Humanities, and the vision is big:

High quality visual, performing, film and musical arts that draw children and adults to the center on a Saturday night.

"We're trying to emulate what's going on at the 92nd Street Y in New York City," said Jerel Shapiro, the Sabes JCC's co-president from 2004 to 2006. "If we can get to be 20 percent of what they are, we're going to be fantastic."

The most mature leg of the effort is the visual arts. The Tychman Shapiro Gallery featured a well-publicized, well-attended and provocative show called "The Mikvah Project" this fall.

Its current exhibit, "Voice to Vision" features art created after conversations with survivors of genocide.

The exhibit is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota's Art Department and Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

This fall, theater moved from "school play-like" to "professional, thoughtful and well done," said Rabbi Jon Perlman, director of Jewish Arts and Humanities at the JCC.

Barberio, former artistic director at Stages Theatre in Hopkins, directed "Sight Unseen" in the center's 400-person theater. And this holiday season's show, "Prairie Lights," albeit a musical, is one with substance, Perlman said.

Substantive, even provocative

"Substance" is a new theme for the arts center. Lecturers, speakers and plays are purposely relevant, even controversial.

In November, the JCC hosted conservative Jewish talk show host Dennis Prager for a talk titled "Academic Attack on Israel: Fair or Foul?" In a state where the majority of Jews consider themselves liberal, Perlman said, the talk was a timely, contentious and attended by about 450 people.

"It was a sort of coming out party for Jewish Republicans," Perlman said. "Jews have always favored the Democratic Party, but recently Israel has been under fire by liberal leftist groups. I think more and more people are uncomfortable with this ... "I certainly don't agree with everything Prager says, but he can be a breath of fresh air."

The visual arts show "The Mikvah Project" was based on the secretive, private practice of mikvah, an ancient Jewish cleansing ritual women perform after each menstrual period.

Money is one obstacle

One of the reasons the JCC hadn't been doing high-quality, diverse programing in the past was money.

"There had been a dearth of programming promoting the arts for many years -- and you see that through nonprofits across the board," Shapiro said. "As dollars became tight, people turned to a practical standpoint, rather that the direction we really wanted to go."

Much of what's going on now at the JCC is possible because of a grant from Bob Sabes, part of the family for whom the center is named.

But more funding is needed. "Our budget today is four times what it was a few years ago and one half of what it should be," said Barberio, who also works as a consultant for the center.

Through its infancy, the arts center has found a theme in the creation of new works. The center is commissioning a play called "The Fence" and an operetta based on the Five Books of Moses. Both will be presented next year.

Creating a work from scratch costs money -- Barberio estimates a play could range from $40,000 to $50,000. But those kinds of novel experiences are the goal, he said.

"We don't want to be doing another production of 'Fiddler on the Roof,'" Barberio said. "The goal is to add to the canon of work based on the Jewish experience."

Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168