LABA in the News

14Y Announces New Artistic Fellows For LABA New York: A Laboratory For Jewish Culture

WORKS INSPIRED BY THE THEME OF ‘CHANGE’ TO BE CREATED BY DANIELLE BARON ATKINS, DANYA ABT, GUY BARASH, IRA KLEIN, AND MORE

January 27, 2025 (New York, NY) – The 14th Street Y is thrilled to announce its 2025 artistic fellows for LABA New York, A Laboratory for Jewish culture. These fellows will spend the coming year exploring the creative and intellectual inspiration behind the idea of ‘Change’ through classical Jewish text. The fellows will each present a culminating performance or exhibition on the theme in Fall 2025.

The 13 artists selected for this year’s fellowship represent many areas of creative exploration, ranging from filmmaking to music composition to oil painting. They include Danielle Baron Atkins (visual artist), Danya Abt (filmmaker), Guy Barash (composer), Ira Klein (composer/musician), Jacob Leibowitz (composer), Leo Egger (director/playwright), Michal Lando (jewelry designer/poet), Na’ama Keha (filmmaker), Noa Osherof (comedy writer/filmmaker), Sarah Rebell (writer), Stacy Mehrfar (visual artist), and Tslil Tsemet (visual artist).

“We are so excited to welcome these talented 14Y LABA artists into our community,” shared Alexis Offen, Executive Director of 14Y. “Eighteen years ago, 14Y founded LABA as a home for Jewish art and study, and we’re thrilled that LABA NY continues to thrive. It is especially meaningful to us to be able to foster a creative space where artists of all backgrounds, including Jewish and Israeli artists, can come together to learn, connect, collaborate, and create new works for our downtown community and beyond.”

Founded in 2007, LABA NY is a program of the 14th Street Y that uses classic Jewish texts to inspire the creation of art, dialogue, and study. The fellows, a mix of visual artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors and others, study classic Jewish texts in a non-religious, open-minded setting and use their learnings to inspire creative projects, featured at the 14Y Theater in a series of live events and performances.

“We look forward to engaging with brilliant artists from diverse mediums and backgrounds, to share space, and witness the ‘change’ that emerges from studying and creating together. LABA NY offers a fresh perspective on art through the lens of the rich and complex Jewish text. I look forward to seeing how the new LABA NY projects will ‘change’ the cultural atmosphere of the future.” said Chanan Ben Simon, Director of LABA NY.

The 14th Street Y (14Y) is a vibrant Jewish community center located in Downtown Manhattan. Each year, tens of thousands of New Yorkers of all ages, races, and ethnicities come to 14Y as members, visitors, or partners to experience our high quality and varied programs centered around arts and culture, early childhood education, summer camps, fitness and aquatics, Jewish life, and older adult services. 14Y is part of Educational Alliance’s network of community centers that provide a vast array of educational, cultural, and rehabilitation programs and help people of all backgrounds to flourish at all stages of their lives. www.14streety.org

LABA NY is a 14Y program founded in 2007 that brings together a mix of culture-makers to study classic Jewish texts. Through its artist residency program, LABA NY Fellows use these studies and convenings to develop new works featured in LABAlive events and performances. Each year centers on a theme of study and artistic expression—2025 focuses on the theme of “Change.” LABA NY’s goal is to present Judaism’s rich literary and intellectual tradition in a free and creative setting, so that these stories and ideas spark new art and audiences. LABA NY is part of LABA Global, a Jewish house of study and cultural laboratory with hubs in Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Berlin, and Barcelona.

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