The Living Room Gallery
The Living Room Gallery
The Living Room Gallery is an artistic space dedicated to pluralistic Jewish art and culture that provides students with an open-minded platform to celebrate how diverse Jews encounter our traditions in un-traditional ways. Based on a strategic partnership with the University of Florida's School of Fine Arts, and open to submissions from across the state, the gallery is open to many multi-media platforms including painting, drawing, sculpting, film, installations, photography, and much more.
Fourth Exhibition
Opening Monday, February 2nd at 8 p.m.
“Jewish Mobsters”
Featuring the work of
Rachel Schmeidler
The Living Room Gallery is proud to present its fourth exhibition “Jewish Mobsters.” Come meet the artist and enjoy complimentary refreshments at our mobster themed gallery opening. Fedoras, wing tipped shoes and double-breasted suits make a comeback as we discuss the impact of these powerful Jewish figures on American history with University of Florida Professor Mitchell hart.
“Jewish Mobsters”
The “Jewish Mobsters” series evolved after Rachel created an exhibition entitled “Hollywood Most Wanted,” which featured silk screened celebrity mug shots. Inspired by the concept but infused with a desire to create something uniquely Jewish, Rachel came up with the idea to do a series with the mug shots of famous Jewish American mobsters. Working closely with lawyers and journalists, she hopes to combine her exhibit with an extensive catalogue of information on each mobster and their influence on American History.
The techniques used in the creation of “Jewish Mobsters” involve both traditional silk screening printmaking techniques and new imaging technology which produces high quality fine art mono-prints. The combination of the two techniques is groundbreaking and experimental in nature due to the combination of the new and old printing processes, which result in a new form of abstract representation.
About the Artist
Los Angeles artist Rachel Schmeidler has been painting and creating artwork since she was a child living in Germany and Israel. Using a variety of mixed mediums, Rachel has created a body of work that reflects contemporary pop culture as well as abstract themes. She developed her techniques at Carnegie Mellon University School of Art on a full scholarship where she was also awarded a lithography assistantship, and earned University and College of Fine Arts honors in addition to several awards for excellence in art including prestigious nominations to Yale University and the Art Institute of Chicago summer fellowship programs. Her work has been featured on CNN, Fox and in the LA Times.
The Living Room Gallery
Contact: Giselle Mazur
Tel: (352) 372- 2900 ext. 721
Fax: (352) 376-8374
http://www.ufhillel.org
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Past Exhibts
Second Exhibit
November 4
‘Choice, Perspectives and Elections’
Featuring works by the UF Photography Club and Independent Artists

UF Hillel is proud to present our second exhibition ‘Choice, Perspectives and Elections’. Come and meet the artists and enjoy complimentary refreshments.
‘Choice, Perspectives and Elections’
Life is a collection of choices. From simple day-to-day decisions to monumental, life-altering ones, who we are today is the result of the choices we made yesterday. The amount of power we have over our own destinies is an empowering theme in Judaism and beyond. The information we are given to make our decisions is largely dependent on perspective. From which interpretation of the Torah we relate to, to which news station we choose to get our information from, perspective is everything. Combine this idea with the impending presidential elections of both Israel and the United States, and the theme of the next Living Room Gallery exhibit almost chose itself. Work represents either an artist’s interpretation of the word “choice,” an interesting use of perspective, or a political commentary.
Opening Exhibit!
September 23
New Beginnings
Artist: Marilyn Binder Silverman

UF Hillel is proud to present an exhibition of New Beginnings. Come and meet the artist and enjoy complimentary refreshments.
New Beginnings
The first gallery exhibition is based on a "New Beginnings" theme. "New Beginnings" is representative of this monumental gallery opening, the start of a new school year and also the High Holiday season in Judaism, which embodies many symbols of starting anew, moving forward and growth. As we reflect on a year gone by, we prepare ourselves for a "rebirth" of sorts with the promise of a clean slate for the year to come.
About the Artist:

Marilyn studied Fine Art and Design at the Johannesburg School of Art and then at Cape Town University in South Africa. Her abstract style and vivid colors reflect her free spirit. The paintings submitted for “Beginnings” reflect explosions of energy as light and motion fuse into new formations. In some paintings you may find a faint Star of David, or a Yad hinting at the underlying source of the formative energy.


