Painting A Stone

Sherwin Miller Museum offers hands-on approach to history...

The death of more than 1 million infants and children during the Holocaust is never an easy subject to discuss, especially with the young.

"The Holocaust was so long ago that many of the children now can't relate," says Tracey Herst-Woods, education coordinator at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art in Tulsa, Okla. "These children would have been grandparents, great-grandparents or even passed away of old age by now had they lived. Kids don't understand that these were children like them."

FAQ

Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art

HOURS — 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Saturdays.

WHERE — 2021 E 71st St. in Tulsa

COST — $3.50-$6.50; teachers, military, police and fire get in free

INFO — 918-492-1818 or jewishmuseum.net

BONUS — Schedule a group tour for your family by calling ahead. Perks of this tour include a personal docent and reduced ticket price for groups of 10 or more.

FYI

Tulsa Museums

Gilcrease Museum — Founded in 1949, the Gilcrease Museum holds the largest collection of art of the American west, an archive of more than 100,000 books, manuscripts and documents and a collection of artifacts from Central and South America. It is also home to the themed gardens spanning more than 460 acres.

Philbrook Museum — Housed in a 1920s villa on 23 acres, the museum holds art exhibitions from around the world including works by Pablo Picasso, Giovanni Bellini and Tanzio da Varallo. The La Villa Restaurant at Philbrook is also open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday and Sunday for brunch.

To bridge this gap, Herst-Woods implemented the Kinder-Stone Project, an art project offered to young visitors that will hopefully become part of a larger exhibit on the grounds of the museum.

The project begins with a stone, she says, which the visitors are asked to decorate. Included with the stone is the name of a person killed during the Holocaust and a number. After the stone is decorated, the child artist is informed that the number is the child's age when he was murdered.

"The kids especially are amazed that anyone would kill a child like them," she says. "Then they see these names as human beings, not just statistics. It becomes very real for the children, and they leave part of themselves at the museum."

More than 3,000 children have decorated these rocks.

"The Holocaust started with hatred, with bullying," says Herst-Woods. "This exhibit is designed to change how children behave, how they act, and to teach them how being hateful can become something bigger.

"We talk about bullying and hatred and how that affects people," she says of the exhibit. "Human beings were killed, not just children. Let's never do this again."

The museum, which began in a synagogue in 1965, is also presenting the Eighth Annual Purim Mask Invitational celebrating the Book of Ester. The masks are judged in six age divisions with a single "Best of Show" awarded. The winner of this prize will become a permanent part of the museum's collection. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday.

Also offered at the museum is a groundbreaking exhibit on sexuality. The Sexuality Spectrum is open through April 23. It explores topics such as the evolving social and religious attitudes toward sexuality, issues of alienation and the influence of the LGBTQI community on the Jewish world.

NAN What's Up on 03/21/2014

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