Over the last two years, our Leventhal-Sidman campus has undergone an incredible transformation as we've modernized and revitalized crucial community spaces such as our lobby, JCafé, and Theater. Now, as we’re finishing the last phase of renovations, we’re excited to be in the decorating stage (my personal favorite part), putting the final touches on our walls and adorning our hallways. Here is where we get to show and tell who we are through beautiful artwork, and meaningful tributes to community members, friends, and family that illustrate our mission and values.
This month we had the privilege of installing our first new piece of art in our refreshed lobby. The artwork, which was commissioned and gifted to us by a generous donor family, and created by an incredibly talented Israeli artist in Jerusalem, is a stunning representation of our new JCC tagline of “Find Your Center.” There are many unexpected moments that occur throughout a renovation, and this highly moving gesture was the highlight of the process.
We had the pleasure of working with the artist, Joel Amit, over FaceTime and email for six months to bring the piece to life. Joel immediately understood our desire to celebrate our new brand identity and tagline of “Find Your Center,” and delivered an exceptional work of art that fit the bill flawlessly. Installing this one-of-a-kind artwork felt like placing the final perfect puzzle piece in our multi-year renovation project – connecting the end of the physical construction on our campus to the launch of our new JCC visual identity and brand.
To share the sentiment and beauty behind his work with everyone who comes to see it, Joel wrote the following artist statement:
This sculpture was created in response to the JCC’s guiding phrase, “Find Your Center.” The piece consists of 2,300 hand-painted metal butterflies arranged into a dynamic landscape of interconnected circles. Each circle represents a center - a unique nucleus of experience, meaning, or identity - and together they form a constellation of movement, reflection, and connection.
The circles vary in size and density, with butterflies positioned at different distances from each center point. This variation suggests the personal and evolving nature of our own internal centers - emotional, spiritual, intellectual and social - and how we each relate differently to our core over time. Between these centers, butterfly trails weave and intersect, forming bridges that pass through, around, and between the circles. These trails speak to our paths in life - sometimes meandering, sometimes direct - and how we often navigate between multiple centers simultaneously.
The sculpture reflects the layered meaning of the JCC as a physical community center, a social gathering place, and a space to nurture one’s inner self. Some circles touch and connect, while others remain separate, illustrating how these centers may be shared or personal, constant or shifting. This interplay between center and periphery, connection and distinction, reflects the rich complexity of human experience within a community.
In this work, the butterflies - symbols of transformation and freedom - suggest the possibility of movement between roles, identities, and stages of life. No center is fixed, and no path is singular. Instead, the composition invites the viewer to consider the beauty in transition, the power of connection, and the individuality of the journey toward one’s center.
This piece is both a map and a mirror: a map of the many ways we connect and converge, and a mirror of how each person may find - again and again - their own unique center within a broader, living community.
I feel inspired every time I look at Joel’s beautiful artwork. To me it summarizes not only this incredible piece of art, but more broadly the role of the JCC in the Greater Boston community. I urge everyone to visit the JCC and see this beautiful representation of who we are in person.
