RESEARCH LIBRARY and ARCHIVE

Open by appointment

Researchers are welcome to use the library. Please schedule an appointment prior to your visit by calling 503.226.3600 Ext 102 or curator@ojm.org

Incorporating the archives of the Jewish Historical Society of Oregon

Institutional Member, Council of American Jewish Museums

Contituent Agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland

Past Exhibits

Reach for the Moon: When Art and Medicine Intersect
January 30 - April, 2005

"Reach for the Moon: When Art and Medicine Intersect" focused on the successful fight and ultimate victory over Tay-Sachs disease. Tay-Sachs is a fatal genetic disorder affecting Jews of Eastern European descent. It provides a rare chance to focus on the intersections between medicine, science, art, and Judaism. The traveling exhibit, organized in by the Yeshiva University Museum in New York City, utilized colorful and descriptive panels charting the scientific conquest of this most paradigmatic disease. Artwork by the nationally renowned artist Ruth Dunkell, co-founder of the National Tay-Sachs Association, illustrated the way that an exceptional artist uses art as therapy–or, as one reviewer expressed, “Suffering transformed her . . . what grabs the eye is that she moved from bright color to muted color to black and white.”

OJM added a section that emphasized the broader implications of the Tay-Sachs odyssey, significant because it has become the prototype for genetic counseling and screening programs and other medical breakthroughs.

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RESEARCH LIBRARY and ARCHIVE

Past Exhibits