arts & culture
Drexel Hillel Celebrates Pilot
Artist-Educator Residency Program
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
T he pandemic has stolen time
from everyone but particularly
from college students. A typi-
cal four years of community building
and connection was abbreviated for
some, with Drexel University Hillel
students being no exception.

Drexel Hillel Rabbi Isabel de Koninck
wanted to make the most of the time
students had together, finding a way to
not only rebuild a young Jewish com-
munity stifled by the pandemic but to
give students a way to process commu-
nal and personal loss and hardships.

The beginning of the 2021-’22 aca-
demic year was an opportunity to do
that: The Hillel created an artist resi-
dency program, one of the only such
Hillel programs in the country, with
2019 Tribe12 fellow and Drexel alum
Danielle Abrams at the helm.

Over the course of the semester,
Abrams held workshops and program-
ming for more than 75 students, spend-
ing 300 hours on campus across the
school’s fall, winter and spring terms.

The pilot program culminated in a
10-week student fellowship over the
winter. The six student fellows will
show their art at a gallery opening at
Drexel’s Perelman Center for Jewish
Life on May 12 from 6-8 p.m.

The opening will include a water-
color painting workshop and print sale,
with money raised going to the Hillel
International Emergency Relief Fund
for Ukrainian refugees.

“It was a really creative move on our
part and, really, an innovative decision
by Rabbi Isabel to create a brand-new
type of program that wasn’t tikkun
olam; it wasn’t a text study. It was
hands-on learning, using art as a tool
to connect students to their Jewish
identity and to their peers,” Abrams
said. Though the artists-educator resi-
dency program served all Hillel stu-
dents, the fellowship was designed for
students who had a deeper interest in
art and community leadership.

Fellows visited local exhibits spot-
lighting Jewish artists, and then taught
various art skills to the rest of their
student community.

“Through the fellowship, they have
explored Jewish art and architecture
around the city and examined the ways
that art has and can be used as a mode
of spiritual expression, as a vehicle for
wellness and a tool for social change and
community-building,” de Koninck said.

Oftentimes, Abrams said, students
Drexel Hillel students at a workshop as part of the artist-educator residency pilot
balanced the fellowship with a full
course load, internships and some-
times a part-time job. The fellowship,
rather than serving as another rigor-
ous resume-builder, was a chance for
students to unwind from the business.

“This fellowship was such an incred-
ible opportunity to connect with other
Jewish artists at Drexel and bond over
our shared passions,” said Drexel stu-
dent artist Andrew Galitzer.

“I very much enjoyed our weekly
studio sessions where we caught up and
created together.”
Abrams wanted to prove that, in
a time of busyness, particularly in a
STEM-focused school such as Drexel,
art still had a place.

“The ultimate goal of this fellowship
for me wasn’t just to create an art gal-
lery or raise awareness about Jewish
artists,” Abrams said. “It was really to
prove the concept that art matters. Art
can be healing and deserves the time
and energy that an engineering-fo-
cused university doesn’t always allot.”
The project is also dear to Abrams
who, as an alum, feels as though she
has the chance to coach the next gener-
ation of artists and community leaders.

She graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s
in design and merchandising and was
an involved Hillel member.

“It feels like I’m stepping back in
time, but it also feels like coming home
to a place that is so meaningful,” she
said. “And it feels really rewarding to
give back to Drexel Hillel in this new
capacity.” Because the residency is a pilot pro-
gram, Abrams and de Koninck don’t
have a road map for its future. This
year, the residency used $10,000 from
the Drexel Hillel budget. De Koninck
is hoping to secure at least $15,000 of
funding to maintain and grow the pro-
gram over the next three years.

In the future, Abrams wants to take
the students on trips to local exhibits
and weekend retreats and hold addi-
tional workshops.

At its core, however, the art program
will remain a space for students to find
connection, a respite from busy sched-
ules and what one fellow described as a
“little piece of Shabbat.”
“Art is very similar to Judaism, in that
it teaches us to always ask questions
and dive deeper to uncover hidden
emotions,” Abrams said. “And they’re
both kind of vehicles for a conversation
to emerge about what connects us to
each other, what connects us to our-
selves, what connects us to our past.” JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com Courtesy of Danielle Abrams
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