Children of Ruth Exhibition
Yona Verwer, Immersion VIII, 2025, Acrylic on Canvas, 20 x 40 in., 2025
Children of Ruth: Artists Choosing Judaism at the Heller Museum, NYC; August 18, 2025 – February 26, 2026
“Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” — Ruth 1:16
About Immersion 8, my artwork in this exhibition:
Immersion VIII captures the profound experience of the mikvah, the Jewish ritual of immersion in water. ….. the exhilaration of submerging into the water, the euphoria of weightlessness, the connection to Jewish conversion, to Jewish marriage, and the sensation of spiritual ascension. Immersing in a mikvah is a crucial part of a traditional procedure for conversion to Judaism.
The central figure is depicted in a backward plunge into the water, surrounded by motifs inspired by the work of artist Hieronymus Bosch, who lived 600 years ago in the Netherlands—the same country where I was born and raised. In the top left, Bosch’s Fountain of Life is presented, referencing one of the biblical metaphors for God, the "Fountain of Living Waters". The bottom right features Bosch’s iconic couple encased within a transparent sphere, symbolizing the sacred union of marriage.
Art historian Matthew Baigell wrote: The importance of Verwer’s mikvah paintings is twofold for the history of Jewish-themed art in America. First, both series reflect the still largely unrecognized devotion to their religion of artists who explore Jewish themes. And second, Verwer has developed an entirely new iconography of mikvah experiences as a base for other artists to explore further.
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The Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College is proud to present Children of Ruth: Artists Choosing Judaism, which may be the first ever group exhibition by artists who have found a spiritual home in Judaism through conversion. Their journeys evoke the message of The Book of Ruth, one of the five megillot (scrolls) of the Bible, which tells the story of the first convert to Judaism, whose legacy is honored as the progenitor of King David.
These 17 artists’ diverse paths to Judaism are rooted in their individual, personal quests. As artist Mary Apikos beautifully expresses it: “In some ways, conversion to Judaism is simply like having a key that was always there in my life. It is like returning home.”
Hailing from New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States, their works range from abstract to representational and employ a variety of media, including painting, drawing, collage, lithography, textile, found objects, sculpture, and model-making.
Their subject matter is as diverse as their spiritual journeys. Some artists look to recent events or contemporary moral issues, others comment on biblical texts or merge their early backgrounds and languages with Jewish themes. Several point to Jewish religious customs and rituals, or conjure up a mystical protector of the Jewish community in times of despair.
These artists are vital members of the Jewish People, as the Torah in Deuteronomy (Devarim) 19:9-14 explains, because we were all together at Sinai:
“You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer—to enter into the covenant of the Eternal your God…I make this covenant…not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the Eternal our God and with those who are not with us here this day.”
Visitor Information
Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College
Location: One West Fourth Street, New York
On View: August 18, 2025 – February 26, 2026
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Tours
Information: 212-824-2218; hellermuseum@huc.edu
Exhibition
Free Heller Museum exhibition audio guide at bloombergconnects.org