Hadassah-Brandeis Institute

Artist Program

seven different images in collage form: woven basket, colorfully painted canvas, arrangement of straw-like wheat, green leaves of a tree, photograph of blue sky with puffy white clouds, red ribbons.

Seven Species, Three Generations - Nancy Schön / Ellen Schön / Susan Schön / Jackie Schon / Mia Schon / Hannah Schon / Charlie Dov Schön Guterman

Seven Species, Three Generations

An interdisciplinary, intergenerational family of artists
Nancy Schön / Ellen Schön / Susan Schön / Jackie Schon / Mia Schon / Hannah Schon / Charlie Dov Schön Guterman

Exhibition: July 28-September 15, 2022, Open Monday-Thursday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET

Seven artists in the Schön family offer a feminist interpretation of the seven species: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates.

This exhibition features sculpture, mosaic, paintings, pottery, textiles, film and more. It is hosted by the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis with generous funding from the Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

Read more in "The Boston Globe" and "JewishBoston."

Seven Species, Three Generations: Workshop and Gallery Tour/In-Person

This event has passed. 

Schön family of artists, Nancy Schön, Mia Schon, Jackie Schon, Susan Schön and Charlie Dov Schön Guterman, will give you a private tour of the exhibition where they will share the stories of their intergenerational family of artists and the beautiful artwork they created. Nancy Schön will discuss her passion and purpose, and how she engages the world with public art. 

Create artwork in hands-on workshops in paper mosaics made from magazines with Mia Schon and weaving techniques with Charlie Dov Schön Guterman.

Seven Species, Three Generations: Adele Fleet Bacow in Conversation with the Seven Schön Family Artists/Online

This event has passed. 

Watch Here

Join us for a virtual evening with all seven of the Schön family artists. They will share the stories behind their beautiful art, how they became a family of intergenerational artists, and their feminist interpretations of the Seven Species: olives, dates, figs, wheat, barley, grapes and pomegranates. 

Adele Fleet Bacow, recently retired as President of Community Partners Consultants, will moderate the discussion and share her expertise on the importance of public art. Bacow has extensive experience in urban planning, cultural economic development, and the arts, consulting for a wide variety of clients nationally, including public agencies, community development corporations, cultural organizations, and foundations.

Free and open to the public.

More About the Seven Species

The seven species are mentioned specifically in Deuteronomy 8:8, but also in other sections of the supplementary readings, the Talmud and the Sandedrin. The species, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates remain major crops in Israel. In ancient times, their first fruits were the only crops brought to the temple in Jerusalem on Shavuot. Today, we eat them on Tu Bishvat, Sukkot, and Shavuot. Rabbi Isaac Luria, a Kabbalist, attributes spiritual energies to each fruit corresponding to the seven lower sefirot (spiritual emanations) that we count during each week of the Omer. These are kindness (wheat), restraint (barley), beauty (grapes), endurance (figs), glory (pomegranate), foundation (olive), and kingdom (dates).

Brandeis Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy

Brandeis was founded on the values of open inquiry, academic excellence and an abiding commitment to social justice. The history of Brandeis has shown that commitment to social justice must be an ongoing effort in both learning and implementation in order to ensure equity for all.