By Julia Olson
Assistant Editor
The Skirball Museum will host a lunch and learn opportunity for its most recent exhibit “The Guiding Hand: The Barr Foundation Collection of Torah Pointers” on Thursday, June 6 from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Attendees will join curatorial consultant Abby Schwartz and collections manager and preparator Sheri Besso for a light lunch and conversation about the exhibition, including the challenges that arose when installing it at the museum. The crafting of the objects and their role as both religious objects and works of art will also be discussed. Visitors can learn about what goes into staging an exhibit of this magnitude, which includes over 100 Torah pointers, also called yads, the Hebrew word for hand.
The lunch and learn will also include a visit to the exhibition.
Clay Barr, President of the Barr Foundation, has collected Torah pointers from all over the world. Some of them are modern works, designed or commissioned by Barr, while others date back to the 18th century. Some have lived lives as Torah pointers in synagogues, while others have only ever been on display as works of art. The range of materials, colors, and stories exhibited in the collection is expansive. Each work serves as a testament to Barr’s keen eye as a collector.
Attendees at the lunch and learn can find out what goes into designing an exhibit with over 100 objects, choices made about case display, an other topics related to the installation.
“The Guiding Hand: The Barr Foundation Collection of Torah Pointers” will be on display at the Skirball Museum of Cincinnati on the HUC campus until Sunday, July 28.
Those interested in attending the lunch and learn on June 6 can RSVP on the Skirball Museum website.
