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Convergences and community at
Gateway's Heliport Gallery
Tom Block explores Jewish and Muslim renewal
by Anil Mundra |
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To many ears, the "Gateway Georgia Avenue Revitalization Corporation" might have a sinister ring.
It sounds a little like a euphemism for the homogenization of mammoth chain stores and a death knell for the diverse culture that has long made Silver Spring unique.
 | | Baal Shem Tov. Acrylic, ink and collage on canvas. (Tov was the 18th century originator of Hasidism.) —from the "Convergences: Towards a Jewish/Muslim Renewal" show |
But five blocks down the road from "Silver Sprung" this non-profit organization envisages a different kind of downtown.
Along with a storefront improvement program and its own localized Main Street initiative, Gateway started the Progressive Silver Spring Arts Walk five years ago. Designed as an socioeconomic tool to bring together local artists and small businesses it has become an annual event that draws art lovers and shoppers from around the region.
Then, in April 2005, Gateway opened its Heliport Gallery, the only dedicated art gallery in Silver Spring, as "a launch pad for the arts and community."
Gateway Program Manager and Montgomery County native David Fogel, the gallery's de facto curator, maintains an alternative vision of urban success in contradistinction to the cookie-cutter styles sweeping the nation.
Fogel has the right background for the job. He studied urban planning in college and worked abroad in community development.
"Growing up, the synergy of the arts and community development just kind of naturally came together for me," he recounts.
Heliport has a parallel pedigree. "We wanted to make sure this gallery supported both the arts and the community in general," says Fogel. "We are trying to provide a space not only for art, but for other things that are important for this community" by hosting civic dialogues, panel discussions, and meetings for a variety of groups.
Fogel argues that having 'unique' as one of the key words for defining ourselves is important.
The gallery accomplishes this by a focusing on fringe artists outside the mainstream, he says, while "trying to have exhibits which are relevant to the community in which we live."
Shows of "Freedom" and "Discovery"
Last fall, the show "Freedom" featured four refugee artists of backgrounds almost as diverse as Silver Spring itself. Hailing from far-flung places and histories, the artists presented "everything from the absolute utmost of naive art--somebody who's just painting to be able to express themselves a little more and share their story--to a neo-classical, museum-ready oil painting that takes 200 hours to produce," Fogel explains.
Alongside the works on the walls, a gallery book compiled the artists' statements of what freedom means to them, and how their definition of it has changed through their physical and artistic journeys.
The next two months at Heliport were an "Age of Discovery," featuring senior citizens who began producing art only after retirement. This show was supplemented by a series of discussions about what it means to live as a senior in today's society, some of the issues that seniors face, and the value of art for a senior's life.
"The reason that I really wanted to do this show was because the senior artists who I met had this vigor to them—this stimulation, this desire, this drive, this twinkle in their eye," says Fogel.
In line with the gallery's holistic vision, he says, "I just started asking the question, 'Is there a connection between still being in this creative mode and where you are in life?'"
Across the Jewish/Muslim divide
On February 9, Heliport launched the ambitious "Convergences: Towards a Jewish/Muslim Renewal."
 | | Rabi'a. Acrylic, ink and collage on canvas. (Rabi'a is an 8th century female Sufi mystic.) —from the "Convergences: Towards a Jewish/Muslim Renewal" show |
According to the gallery's press release, the show "explores the positive aspects of the Jewish/Muslim liaison, and posits that we can reach into the shared history of both peoples for resources to lead towards a positive renewal of this relationship."
As with Heliport's other shows, though, this exploration does not jump off the canvasses on display. The message, rather, is in the very act of convergence of the two artists: Karim Chaibi, a Tunisian Muslim, and Tom Block, an American Jew.
Their biographies bear the theme of conciliation. Chaibi, once an Islamic fundamentalist, now attends synagogue with his Jewish wife and his son, who had his bar mitzvah two years ago. Silver Spring resident Block, on the other hand, aligns himself with both Judaism and Sufism, revealing a long history of this association in his book, Shalom/Salaam: The Untold Story of a Mystical Entanglement.
The artists believe that through artistic exchange and open-minded dialogue, misunderstanding and conflict can be transformed into peace and friendship. Their exhibit, therefore, serves as an artistic backdrop and catalyst for the exploration of the Jewish-Muslim relationship.
Heliport continues to arrange events to foster this dialogue, going beyond the paint on the walls.
On February 15 "An Evening with the Diplomats" explicitly addressed the political history and future of the Middle East. On March 8 "An Evening with the Artists" will give the painters themselves a chance to tell their stories in tandem and elaborate on the ideas behind "Convergences."
And on March 22 there will be the conlcuding "An Evening of Cultural Convergence" with music, dance, storytelling and food.
Heliport has made a tradition out of dovetailing of dialogue and cultural education with art. Looking beyond the canvas, after all, is a critical component of Heliport's approach.
"There's a lot more to it than what is just on the wall," Fogel says contemplativley. "Every exhibit that we have here at the gallery needs to be looked at in its totality.For our purposes, grounded in community development, there has to be a deeper meaning to it, there has to be a deeper purpose, and for us that deeper purpose is a bit of dialogue.
"Our events are really meant to foster that and bring us all to a deeper understanding of who we share space with as individuals.
"Urban places that work over long periods of time tend to be ones that have a special sense of place. So Heliport makes sense for everybody."
"Convergences: Towards a Jewish/Muslim Renewal" is on display until April 9 at Gateway's Heliport Gallery, 8001 Kennett St, Suite 3, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-562-1400. Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 4-7PM and by appointment.
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