Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston, Massachusetts

              Combined Jewish Philanthropies
Central Area Program Planning Committee 2.
I. Cultural Arts
The Cultural Arts task group concluded three major facilities are
necessary to carry out our objectives:
a) a fixed seat theater.
b) a Jewish crafts center.
c) a museum exhibit area.
a) Fixed Seat Theater
The subcommittee studied theater facilities in the Greater Boston area.
The only theater facility in the central area that meets accepted professional
standards is the Spingold Theater at Drandeis.    That theater has,   of course,
its own program in use throughout the year.    A comprehensive performing
arts program under the auspices of the Jewish community will require a
fixed seat theater.    A 400-seat theater is recommended.
b) A Jewish Crafts Center
(The following is drawn from a proposal by Mae Shafter Rockland. )
The crafts center will be defined by the concept of an "Heirloom
Factory"   where amateurs and professionals have facilities to learn and
create and even sell their artifacts.    All classes,  workshops,  and programs
offered by the crafts center will relate to Jewish subject matter.    Space will
be provided for writers,  musicians,  dramatists,   artists,  and craftspeople.
A quiet retreat made available to talented people will increase the likelihood
of creating a new Jewish poem or play.    In exchange for the free space,   the
artists would offer presentations of their work and be available to consult
the Education-Culture staff.    The crafts center will emphasize mediums,
such as calligraphy,  textiles,  metal work,  and papercutting,  which have a long
Jewish heritage,   and those such as ceramics,  printmaking,  woodworking,  and
photography,  which readily lend themselves to Jewish expression.    To further
encourage the creation of Jewish objects,  we will have space devoted to the
display of fine handicraft,   both antique and contemporary,   and a shop selling
objects made at the center as well as Jewish works made by Jewish artists
and craftspersons.
c) Museum Exhibit area
(The following is drawn from a proposal by Dr.   Chaim Rosenberg. )
The tragic dislocations of the last 100 years have led to the destruction
of most Jewish life in Europe and the Near East.    The link of modern Jewry