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Claire B. Cohen
Painter & Art Therapist
Public Art Installations
Public Commission - 2001
In 2001, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa received a Canada Council grant to create a mural in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the new Jewish Community Centre. A group of artists each contributed a piece to create this large mural representing the life and history of the Jewish community of Ottawa. The mural is presently hanging in the Ottawa JCC.
"A Prayer for Peace" is my contribution to this mural.
The inception of this painting as my part in the mural, occurred during the second Intafada that broke out between Israel and Palestine, at the end of the second millennium, a most appropriate time for accomplishing a final peace between these two nations. The general mood among the Jewish community everywhere in the world was one of bitterness, hopelessness and disillusion.
The painting is an expression of a deep yearning and prayer for a lasting peace, seen in the many symbols of peace used in the picture.
The western wall in the background is a metaphor of Shivat Zion the return of the Jewish people to Zion, as well as the ideal ' Yeruhalaim shel Maala' the dream of the universal peace centered in Jerusalem.
The Hebrew text is an excerpt from the prayer book and the book of Psalms.
"Midor l'edor"
(From Generation to Generation)
This quilt was created in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Temple Israel Ottawa. Thirteen members of the congregation were involved in assembling the quilt now hanging on the sanctuary wall.
Representative Jerusalem Mural
A quilt mural was designed in 2004 for the Adat Shalom congregation, in Ottawa now hanging on the chapel's wall.
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