“Growing Up Jewish” Art and Storytelling by Jacqueline Kott-Wolle

Growing Up Jewish - Art & Storytelling is an exhibition of contemporary paintings and personal narratives by Highland Park artist Jacqueline Kott-Wolle exploring the key people, experiences, and institutions that shaped her evolving Jewish identity. Like many Jewish children who grew up in North America in the late 20th century, Kott-Wolle’s connection to her Judaism was influenced by multiple generations, countries, and a Jewish culture always in motion.

The exhibit will take place at Madron Gallery now through December 6, 2019, located a 1000 W. North Avenue, Third Floor in Chicago. Exhibition hours are Monday - Friday. 9:00 - 4:30. Evenings or weekends by appointment. The gallery is located at North & Sheffield between Peet's Coffee and West Elm with free parking.

Join Jacqueline Kott-Wolle for an Artist Talk on Sunday November 3, 2019 at 12:30 p.m. and a reception on Thursday, November 21 at 6 p.m. with live Klezmer music and wine.

In these paintings, the artist draws upon decades of family photos for inspiration – those of her immigrant grandparents who arrived in Canada in 1949; those of family events and vacations, as well as Jewish holiday celebrations and milestones marked by each successive generation of her family. This colorful cast of characters is shown reveling in the opportunities and freedoms they enjoy as they build their lives in North America’s vibrant Jewish communities.

This exhibition also illuminates common tensions faced by immigrants reconciling their desire to shed some of the ‘old ways’ while maintaining their own core of traditions. Kott-Wolle’s grandparents may very well have recognized that some aspects of Jewish life in their new country felt unfamiliar to the Judaism they had always known. But these works pose the question – did the artist’s grandparents fully grasp how their participation in these new communal patterns would influence the evolving Jewish narrative? Is the impact of their choices still rippling into the present?

Growing Up Jewish sheds light on families contending with tradition. It speaks to the dreams of newcomers, and the decisions they navigate for themselves and for future generations.

For more information, contact: Jacqueline Kott-Wolle at jkwpaintings@gmail.com, paintingsbyjacquelinekottwolle or www.madrongallery.com, 312-640-1302.