LABA NY

What is LABA NY?

LABA NY is the leading artistic fellowship in the country that supports Jewish artists and showcases innovative works inspired by Jewish texts. Founded in 2007 and housed at the 14th Street Y, LABA NY provides an essential space for Jewish artists to connect with one another and to present their work to the broader public through performances at the 14Y Theater, exhibitions in our gallery, and beyond. Since its inception, LABA NY has inspired additional hubs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, and Paris.

The Creative Process

Every year, LABA NY selects a cohort of between 10-15 established and emerging artists for a 12-month residency. The program champions fellows who work in an array of different fields and interdisciplinary arts, including theater, opera, film, sculpture, painting, music composition, photography, puppetry, jewelry design, and more. These artists come together regularly to study a myriad of classical Jewish texts with LABA’s Scholar-in-Residence Ruby Namdar (winner of the Sapir Prize, Israel’s most prestigious literary award). The study sessions fuel the development of new works in conversation with contemporary Jewish culture, informing the fellows’ LABA projects and building an ongoing, growing community of proudly Jewish artists.

Check Out Upcoming LABA NY Events

Work Samples from LABA NY Fellows

The program has nurtured artists and incubated early-stage works that have gone on to prominence and acclaim across a variety of different artistic genres. These works include…

Literary Arts:

Sam Sussman (LABA ’21) recently published his bestselling debut novel, The Boy from the North Country, which was influenced by his experiences studying text with scholar Ruby Namdar during his LABA fellowship.

Performing Arts:

Mikhl Yashinsky (LABA ’23) is part of the current Yiddish revival in popular culture; he wrote one of the first original Yiddish musicals in decades, Feast of the Seven Sinners. The show, which began as his LABA project in 2023, was presented as a LABA Second Stage production this past summer.

Visual Arts:

Identity Landscapes – an exhibit by 2025 LABA fellow Danielle Baron Atkins

“My LABA NY fellowship has enabled me to use a new artistic medium to delve into the ancient wisdom of the Jewish texts. Through this exploration I have found wisdom, inspiration, and new purpose in my artmaking.” – Danielle Baron Atkins (LABA ’25)

Baron Atkins’ exhibit traces the artist’s search for meaning after October 7th, weaving ancient Jewish stories with fragments of daily life into sacred yet fragile forms. The American Israeli artist’s work bridges the personal and the ancestral, revealing identity as both vulnerable and transcendent. Her large-scale constructions on canvas are inspired by experiences as a Jewish wife and mother raising three boys in a chaotic and often hostile modern world. Physical objects and stories from the Torah are ignited in the female form, revealing a simultaneously sacred and threatened identity landscape.

About 14Y: The 14th Street Y (14Y) is Downtown Manhattan’s Jewish community center. Each year, tens of thousands of New Yorkers come to 14Y as members, visitors, or partners to experience our high quality and varied programs centered around Jewish life, early childhood education, afterschool, summer camps, fitness and aquatics, and older adult services

Supporters of 14Y Arts + Ideas + LABA

14Y Arts + Ideas programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.