Illuminated Streets

The Project

Street art has long been used to express ideas of identity and community. In cities like Los Angeles, one of the most ethnically rich and also one of the most segregated cities in the US, street art tends to reflect very localized communities. Missing from the LA street art conversation is the Jewish voice. The Jewish community is also an international one. Modern Israeli culture is an increasingly large influence on world Jewish culture, with diaspora communities looking to Israel for insight into Jewish culture as national culture. And Israeli culture feeds on global cultural expressions, assimilating and repurposing them.

To advance the Jewish contribution to the LA street art scene, increase ties between LA and Israel, and explore expressing Jewish identity through unlikely media, this project brings together Itamar Paloge and Hillel Smith, artists from Tel Aviv and LA respectively, to create collaborative murals in each city. Both artists utilize the Hebrew alphabet as a design element in creating work that is rooted in a rich tradition of Jewish typographic art. Both work with spray paint and other “counterculture” media that appeal to young people outside traditional art channels. The unusual juxtaposition of Jewish tradition and these contemporary media is thought-provoking, and, we hope, compelling to those in both the Jewish and creative communities. 

The name “Illuminated Streets” references illuminated manuscripts, gorgeously decorated hand-written books from the days when all books were written by hand where scribes and artists showed their devotion to the written word by making it beautiful. We also aim to illuminate the streets of our communities by infusing them with color and meaning.

The project is made possible through grants from Asylum Arts, and from the NextGen Engagement Initiative of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, and with support from The Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison and The University of Southern California Initiative for Israeli Arts and Humanities.

How you can help

We are thankful for the support of Asylum Arts at the start of our project and all of the other organizations and individuals who have enabled us to create five murals so far. If we are to continue this endeavor, we need additional funding to cover the cost of materials and travel to our next mural destination. Please consider contributing to our campaign at jewcer.com/murals.

We are interested in partnering with organizations interested in local Jewish culture and the US-Israel partnership. As a part of our project, we are eager to create programs for artists, youth, and others to learn about and create Jewish arts and culture, and street art. These programs may include art workshops taught by the artists, artist talks and presentations, and opening parties for the completed murals. We welcome any ideas, logistical support, and connections to institutional leaders and property owners with walls to share in order to make this dream a reality.

We are so grateful for all assistance and encouragement.