Site: Yizkor — Artist-Led Workshop with Maya Ciarrocchi

Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection at Hebrew Home at Riverdale is pleased to announce Site: Yizkor, a free participatory workshop led by Bronx artist Maya Ciarrocchi, on Sunday, June 22 at 1:30 p.m. Attendees of all ages are invited to reflect on the vanished places in their lives through drawing, writing, and storytelling. The Museum is located at 5901 Palisade Avenue in the Riverdale section of The Bronx. Space is limited. R.S.V.P. required 718.581.1596 or art@riverspring.org. Photo I.D. required for admission.

As the artist has stated: “New York City is a place constantly in flux. We live in homes that housed countless generations of individuals and families, new buildings rise on top of the foundations of what came before, and neighborhoods are erased in the name of progress. We see the traces of these former places threaded through the city, and we may remember them from our own lifetime. Every long-time New York resident has said aloud, ‘what used to be there?’”

During the workshop, participants will be invited to respond to the following prompt: "describe a vanished place of personal importance or a place you once lived." These responses can include descriptions of buildings, houses, neighborhoods, or villages through map making, drawing, text, or spoken word. Participants will then read and show their responses to the group, and the workshop will conclude with a group conversation.

Site: Yizkor is an ongoing workshop, performance, and visual art project that centers on individual and collective manifestations of loss and displacement through text, video, movement, and music. Its source material includes architectural renderings of demolished buildings, memory maps of vanished places, and prose remembrances obtained from extant Yizkor (memorial) books and project participants.

This program is presented at the Derfner Judaica Museum by Bronx River Art Center and is made possible with the support of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Eric Dinowitz. Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) is a culturally diverse, multi-arts, non-profit organization that provides a forum for community, artists, and youth to transform creativity into vision. Our Education, Exhibitions, Artist Studios, and Presenting Programs located at 1087 East Tremont Ave, cultivate leadership in an urban environment and stewardship of our natural resource — the Bronx River.

Museum hours: Sunday–Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Photo I.D. is required for all visitors to the Hebrew Home campus. Call 718.581.1596 or email art@riverspring.org to schedule in-person group visits or virtual tours, or for holiday hours. For further information, visit our website at www.derfner.org.

About Hebrew Home at Riverdale

As a member of the American Alliance of Museums, the Hebrew Home at Riverdale by RiverSpring Living is committed to publicly exhibiting its art collection throughout its 32-acre campus, including the Derfner Judaica Museum and a sculpture garden overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades. Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection provides educational and cultural programming for residents of the Hebrew Home, their families and the general public from throughout New York City, its surrounding suburbs, and visitors from elsewhere. RiverSpring Living is a nonprofit, non-sectarian geriatric organization serving more than 18,000 older adults in greater New York through its resources and community service programs.

Image: Maya Ciarrocchi, Crown, 2020 (detail). Monotype on paper, 30 x 22 in. Courtesy the artist.