Landmark Work

History, art and cultural pride happily meet in the current show at the Finegood Gallery, focusing on the Breed Street Shul, a landmark synagogue in Boyle Heights. The shul--the term translates to synagogue or study center--is an important historical edifice, dating back to the 1920s.

Then, the Boyle Heights area was a haven for a growing Jewish population and once had the largest Jewish population on the West Coast. The Finegood exhibit pays respects to the synagogue while serving as a plea for its restoration.

In the gallery, we find a felicitous blend of artworks, in two and three dimensions, depicting the shul with actual artifacts from the building, which has fallen into disuse in recent years and is in the process of revitalization. It also has fallen prey to vandalism, a sad fact of which we are reminded by a couple of graffiti-marred “reader stands.”

The building itself is the subject in many of the works, including Victor Raphael’s series of prints “From Breed Street to Wilshire Boulevard” and Marlene Zimmerman’s ceramic sculpture of the building. Alexander Deutsch shows warm depictions of the shul’s interior.

Other art leans in a more abstract or decorative direction, as in Marilyn Simon’s watercolor and collage pieces, evoking tapestries but flecked with the cultural markings of Hebraic lettering. Laurie Gross’s linen-based fiber sculptures make clever use of fabric to suggest figures, whether in the embrace of “The Family” or the duality of “The Wedding.”

Two lengths of linen are entwined, and a third is wrapped over them--a protective element that could suggest the bond of matrimony.

One of the most sparkling tributes to the structure isn’t by a Jewish artist but an admiring neighbor, the noted Chicano artist Frank Romero. With his widely respected and exhibited art, Romero has often highlighted the vibrancy and vulnerability of East L.A. His oil on vinyl painting is a simple and effective ode to a familiar, spiritually charged architectural site in the neighborhood, buzzing with Romero’s signature palette and friendly wild style. Needless to say, it’s more than just a Jewish thing.

BE THERE

“Beacon of Light,” through Dec. 26 at the Finegood Gallery, Bernard Milken Jewish Community Center, 22622 Vanowen St. in West Hills. Hours: Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (818) 587-3218.