Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership

Uncovered & Rediscovered is an evolving eight-part exhibit that explores the Chicago Jewish experience. The exhibit unfolds over time in a series of intimate chapters (each on display for 3-6 months in the ground floor vestibule of the Spertus building).

Exhibit admission, including a multi-media screening station on the second floor, is free.

This chapter shares the work of an influential group of Jewish artists active in Chicago between 1920 and 1945. Predominately Eastern European immigrants or first generation Americans, many began their careers during the Great Depression as painters for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Modernists, as they were called, painted from personal experience and were influenced by the energy of Chicago's growing metropolis. See works by Todros Geller, A. Raymond Katz, Mitchell Siporin, Fritzi Brod, and others, and learn the stories of places they gathered including Hull House, the Jewish People's Institute, and Around the Palette (the forerunner of the American Jewish Artists Club).