JEWISH FOLK EXHIBITION COMES TO THE SKIRBALL

“The Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art,” an exploration of a facet of folk creativity organized by the Museum of Folk Art and the Jewish Museum in New York, is on view at the Hebrew Union College’s Skirball Museum through April 27.

The exhibition consists of about ceremonial and secular objects from 1720 to the present.

The earliest generations of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jewish settlers, few in numbers, tended to assimilate their cultural patterns with those of the local population. This minimized specifically Jewish content in the portraits, silhouettes, samplers and quilts of the early pioneers.

Truly authentic Jewish folk art did not flourish until large numbers of immigrants arrived, bringing with them cultural and artistic traditions firmly rooted in European Jewish life. These new immigrants soon established stable communities with synagogues and other organizations in support of their cultural life. In the 1880s, hundreds of thousands of Jews fled Eastern Europe; their arrival in the United States marked a new phase in American Folk art.

Sharply segregated Eastern European Jewish communities had experienced a degree of autonomy which gave craftsmen free rein in the practice of their arts and generated rich folk-art traditions.

As these immigrants entered American life, they were inspired by uniquely American images which they incorporated into traditional designs and motifs. Such cross-pollination led to the creation of objects that are most prevalent in the exhibition. On view are carved wood pieces, paper cuts, illuminated manuscripts and marriage contracts, paintings, embroidery, ceremonial Torah covers, quilts and even scrimshaw.

Parking and admission at the Skirball are free. Hours: Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Information on guided tours: (213) 749-33424.

The Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art will celebrate Los Angeles designers and artists with a three-day fund-raiser, called “Fashion Show” and “Five & Dime Clothing Sale,” on Friday, Saturday and next Sunday, to benefit the institute and its projects.

Festivities start Friday, 7-9 p.m., on the top floor of the Westwood Gateway Building at 11111 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Sepulveda Boulevard) with a reception and fashion show.

Unique clothing and jewelry by designers Gregory Poe, Leon Max, Michelle Lamy, Claudia Grau, Jimmy ‘Z, Robbie and Hannah Hartnell will be modeled by celebrities and artists Mary Woronov, Lisa Lyons, Barbara Leary, Jill Spaulding, Larry Bell, Bob Graham, Peter Alexander, Eric Orr, Toni Basil, Dennis Hopper and Julie Newmar. Tony Bill will emcee and Allee Willis will compose music for the show.

Food and drink will be supplied by the West Beach Cafe, 72 Market Street and Cointreau Cocktails.

Tickets, at $50 per person, entitle the holder to first crack at clothing donated by leading manufacturers and retailers: Jag, Esprit, Fred Segal, Monte Factor, Jerry Magnin, Camp Beverly Hills and others. The clothing showcase/sale, across the street at 1739 Pontius Ave., will precede the fashion show, Friday, 5-8 p.m., and continue Saturday and next Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. with no admission charge.

Information: (213) 559-5033.

“Ruth Weisberg: A Circle of Life,” an exhibition of 11 paintings and 14 related drawings, prints and photographs opens in USC’s Fisher Gallery on Tuesday and runs through March 4.

Weisberg’s “Circle of Life” addresses issues of survival and continuity in a world of impermanence and change. The artist captures more than one moment in time in each painting by superimposing images and incorporating related graphics which elaborate on her ideas.

In addition to her work as a painter/printmaker and arts activist, Weisberg is a professor of art at USC. She earned her BA and MA degrees from the University of Michigan, followed by studies in painting and printmaking at the Academia di Belle Arti, Perugia, Italy. Concurrently with the Weisberg exhibition is the gallery’s annual display of “Treasures of USC” featuring “Master Paintings from the Elizabeth Holmes Fisher and Armand Hammer Collections.” The free exhibitions are open Tuesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m.

Los Angeles painter Jim Morphesis (one of 14 artists selected from 260 invited applicants) was awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Fellowship. The $15,000 grant is given biannually to artists from all over the United States.