Ceramics Workshop (In Person)

Workshop Block #3:This event is in partnership with the Racial Justice Initiative. Through artistic expression, we have long been able amplify our voices. In this experiential workshop with potter and educator Tamar Forman, participants will learn about and create pottery inspired by the work of Dave the slave potter, born in 1801. Following the workshop, participant’s pieces will be fired and glazed. Dave’s work is featured in a current exhibit at the MFA, which we will visit and explore with one of the curators, our very own Ethan Lasser, on Sunday. Learn more about the MFA tour here.

Dave was enslaved by families who owned potteries in South Carolina, and was a skilled and gifted potter. Despite laws forbidding slaves to learn to read and write, Dave knew how to write, carving his name and short poems into his pots. In a world that denied his freedom and dehumanized him, Dave’s courage and determination to use his voice and his humanity are an inspiration.

This program is part of Celebrating our Stories through Jewish Arts & Culture, May 5-7: Join us for a weekend-long celebration! Connecting over meals, multi-faceted experiences, songs and stories, we’ll share in the ways that art can express the stories of our souls. Throughout the weekend, we will gather for a special Shabbat service and communal dinner, experiential workshops and learning opportunities, a Beit Cafe on Saturday evening, and opportunities to explore in greater Boston. Click here to view the weekend’s events.

Registration: Please use the registration bar above to RSVP. Click here to see our up-to-date health and safety guidelines.

Tamar Forman is new to Massachusetts. Born and raised in Israel, she is trained as an informal educator and worked for twenty years as a guide and educator for groups visiting Israel. She is a graduate of the Hebrew University’s Anthropology and Jewish Studies departments. Tamar is trained as a potter and opened her own studio outside Jerusalem after working and studying for over a decade in studios both in Jerusalem and in Hong Kong. She has used her education background, training in art therapy, and ceramics skills to teach and design programs at Jerusalem’s Cancer Society Support Center, at schools for children and young adults with special needs, for Birthright Israel programs, community center education programs, Jewish day schools, and assisted living communities. She is currently a member of the education team at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, and is completing her MA in art therapy at Lesley University. Tamar and her husband, Rabbi Michael Schwartz, are the parents of four children: Yami (21), Yarden (19), Zohar (16), and David (11).