Tova Speter is an artist and CJP grantee.
“I directed this collaborative artwork with the help of 100-plus members of Jack Satter House, a supportive, affordable housing community of Hebrew SeniorLife. The artwork began as individual pieces created by many residents and transformed into a complete and more powerful visual kaleidoscope celebrating the beauty, richness, and meaning that community creates when they come together.”
Tova Speter is an artist, art therapist, art educator, and arts consultant based in Needham. The scope of her work ranges from facilitating art workshops to consulting with community organizations on ways to incorporate the arts into their programming, as well as directly engaging various groups in creating collaborative murals.
Tova also offers art therapy and mental health counseling services through her private practice and creates art as a painter and installation artist. She has worked at the intersection of arts and the Jewish experience for the past 20 years, and enjoys the process of helping others share their voice and perspective through the layers of meaning and metaphor embedded in the art they design and create.
Visit Tova’s portfolio site.
How does your connection to Jewish community influence your art?
One of the most important and meaningful connections I have with Judaism is the concept of kehillah (community). As a community artist, I seek out artistic endeavors that allow me to creatively connect with community and provide opportunities for others to connect both with each other and with their Jewish spirit. My work also leans into the power of kavanah (intention) and midrash (interpretation) as I help others share their voice and perspective through the layers of meaning and metaphor embedded in the art they design and create.
Finish this thought: In order to create, I need…
To be open to discovering the potential of an opportunity, a material, a community, and myself.
What’s your next artistic project or challenge?
I have a number of artistic challenges and projects in the works for the fall, but there are two I am especially excited about. First, I am bringing my expertise as an art therapist to consultant work for CJP to help offer therapeutic art workshops for caregiving staff at partner organizations in our community who have been especially affected by the pandemic. I look forward to the opportunity to listen to the specific challenges that are being faced in order to design meaningful outlets for creative self-expression and self-care. Second, I am continuing my “Brighter Connected” installation series with the Jewish Arts Collaborative, working with students from local Jewish day schools and creating “Brighter Revealed,” a large-scale traveling public art display focused on discovering the inner light of courage within our hearts as part of a celebration of Hanukkah.
Learn more about CJP’s arts and culture initiative.
