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My connection to my own family’s immigration history was first expressed through my art when I created “Passages,” a series of seven painted doors, illustrating the story of my Ukrainian great-grandmother Bella. Walking through a passageway of her history and heritage has given me a historical perspective on the cultural rituals and political/social realities that have shaped my identity both as an artist and as a Jewish woman. This work was exhibited at the Ellis Island Museum and toured the U.S. for 12 years. Images of this artwork are on my website:  http://www.bethgrossman.com/gallery/passages/

My experience at the Project Kesher International Jewish Women’s Conference in 1994 was the direct inspiration for the final piece of my painted door series, Passages. The opportunity to go to Kiev and meet so many FSU Jewish women and listen to their stories was both exhilarating and haunting. Had my great-grandmother not made the journey by herself as a young girl of 16, I might have grown up like many of the FSU Jews. I imagined not having the opportunity to learn and practice Jewish rituals that I had taken for granted and even rebelled against. I felt blessed in many ways… to have had the opportunity to practice my religion freely, and, as the final painted door portrays, to bring the light of the symbolic menorah that my great-grandmother took with her from Russia back to FSU Jewish women.

Beth Grossman’s art has been displayed in museums throughout the U.S.. In addition creating artwork she teaches oral history workshops to inspire participants to start creative documentation of family history.    http://www.bethgrossman.com