Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 2, 2022

A historic work of Lithuanian Jewish folk art, forgotten behind a false wall for decades, has been restored and will be unveiled Tuesday at a Burlington synagogue.

The artwork that has come to be known as The Lost Mural will be revealed to donors to the restoration project in an event at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, at the Ohavi Zedek Synagogue. The public is invited to an event at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, that will include Yiddish music and dance courtesy of the Nisht Geferlach Klezmer Band.

Non-donors can view the 4:30 p.m. unveiling via a livestream on the Lost Murals Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/lostshulmural. That event will include appearances by former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin, U.S. Rep Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Karen Mittelman, executive director of the Vermont Arts Council.

According to a news release announcing the unveiling, the Lost Mural is a rare survivor of an Eastern European decorative folk-art style nearly obliterated during the Holocaust. Project conservator Rick Kerschner discovered the hardening varnish was endangering the mural, prompting the volunteer-led restoration project.

The Chai Adam congregation in Burlington commissioned Lithuanian immigrant artist Ben Zion Black in 1910 to paint the mural in its synagogue in the prevalent style of the wooden shuls of Eastern Europe. Decades later, the synagogue was sold and converted into apartments; the 155-square-foot mural was covered by a false wall and forgotten for almost 30 years before the volunteer group moved the mural to the Ohavi Zedek lobby.

The full story in previous coverage:

The mural tells us a remarkable story of a thriving Jewish immigrant community from Lithuania and the successful efforts of their descendants to preserve their cultural legacy today, Audra Plepyte, ambassador of Lithuania to the United States, said in the news release. The preservation of this masterpiece is an encouraging example that it is possible to restore the memory of our past and bring communities and people together.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck

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Burlington synagogue will unveil the Lost Mural's restoration - Burlington Free Press

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