Arts

Welcome to the Helene Berman Seidenfeld Visual Arts Center.

Founded in the fall of 2002 as a result of the vision and generosity of Helene Berman Seidenfeld, herself an accomplished artist, who felt that art should be for everyone and that the entire community should have the opportunity to benefit from and enjoy the arts center. The art curriculum begins with our youngest children and progresses through graduation. We are very proud of those students who have gone on to art school and further in their art careers.

Our basic belief is that visual and fine arts should be, and can be, an integral part of each child’s education. The arts inspire creativity and provide an outlet for expression that helps each child grow and feel good about him or herself. Visual arts also provides a medium for the integration of many academic and problem-solving skills. By using different materials and learning about different artists and their styles of work and the periods within which they worked, it gives the child insight into the historical period they will learn about in other classrooms.   There are also many opportunities for children to grow spiritually and gain insight into the Torah and religious events and holidays through the arts.

Art provides a new way of seeing the world and helps grow well-rounded individuals whose appreciation for all forms of artistic expression will help make the world a better, more interesting and more beautiful place. There are many opportunities for members of the broader community to participate and attend classes, lectures and gallery openings and shows where they can learn to express themselves and learn more about the arts and creativity. I welcome you to visit us at any time.

The Deborah Lerner Gross Jewish Cultural Arts Center was established at Berman in 2002 through the generosity of dear friends and family in memory of Deborah Lerner Gross, a beloved parent who also served as Trustee of the school and member of the Executive Committee.

Under the dedicated direction of Sarah Antine, the Center works together with administration and faculty to increase arts integration in both Judaic and general subjects for all students from nursery to twelfth grade. In particular, the Center focuses on the arts component of the Jewish curriculum, enhancing the teaching of Torah and middot (values) and the love of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael in creative and exciting ways. Since its establishment, it has served as a model for arts integration in a day school setting, and has piloted many programs which have been replicated. The Center also sponsors many programs for area educators and the wider community which increase knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment of the arts.

We are appreciative for all that the Center has done to enrich the lives of our students– and the community- and are grateful to those visionaries who made it a reality.

HADAS is the student dramatic arts society at Berman, producing several school plays each school year. Plays performed in recent years include Les Miserable, Our Town, Peter Pan, Fools, Get Smart, Pink Panther, Matchmaker, Oz, The Desk, Inherite the Wind, And Then There Were None, Curious Savage, A Midsummers Nights Texas Size Nightmare, A Night of Funky Fairytales, Dorthy in Wonderland, Robin Hod, The Talking Coins and Miss Nelson is Missing.

School plays help build communication skills and camaraderie in our students and encourage creative thinking and writing, photography, visual art and design and knowledge of history, science and literature.

Our theater department instills values of excellence, risk taking, problem solving, community building and validating the work of others, while boosting student confidence and pride, whether it be through work as an actor, member of the stage crew, costumer, or techie. Each member of our cast and crew brings his or her talent, passion and expertise to each HADAS collaboration.