HONORING THE OCTOBER 7 HOSTAGES THROUGH THE POWER OF ART
Awakened by sirens as terrorists infiltrated Israel’s border on the morning of October 7, Philadelphia artist Sivia Katz Braunstein counted the hours while sheltering with her family in a safe room on the kibbutz where she was visiting family. Only later did she learn that some 1,200 people were murdered and nearly 250 were abducted on that terrible day.
After making her way home, Braunstein decided to use her artistic talent to raise awareness of the hostage crisis.
She and a group of fellow women artists in Philadelphia – Nancy Gordon, Deborah Morris Zakheim, Judy Rohtbart, Jane Bennett, Carol Lert, Sue Seif, and Carol Sack Denmark – volunteered their time and talent to paint 8"×10" portraits of each hostage, including the dead, the freed, and those still in captivity.
"We're artists," said Sivia Katz Braunstein. "This is our way to bring attention to the men, women, and children forcibly taken from Israel on October 7th. They were just living their lives, like we are doing now, when Hamas invaded Israel and abducted them."
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"I hope the paintings can stay together, if not here, in another place where the public — Jews and non-Jews–will see them — a testament, a collective cry to look in the eyes of these men, women and children and to not forget them," says Braunstein. "People need to see these paintings in their entirety so that people don’t forget how this all started.”
"Painting someone's portrait is such an intimate act. You know how they smile," artist Nancy Gordon says. "You know what's in their eyes. You can see through to their soul."
