Jewish Studio Project

Where Jewish Learning Meets Creative Practice 

Jewish Studio Project builds creative capacity in the Jewish world by blending profound Jewish learning with transformative creative practice. It helps individuals develop imaginative skills for personal and professional life, rooted in ancient Jewish wisdom and adapted for contemporary meaning-making through their unique Jewish Studio Process. 

Small Group Innovation: Creativity Circles 

Jewish Studio Project is launching five pilot Creativity Circles, each with 8-12 participants meeting monthly from November to June. These peer-led groups represent a bold new model—training lightly exposed individuals to lead the Jewish Studio Process themselves, formalizing what participants have already been adapting in their own communities. 

Groups meet primarily in homes, creating intimate spaces for creative exploration. Facilitators receive comprehensive training including shared Jewish Studio Process experiences, frameworks for recruitment, facilitator manuals, art supplies starter kits, and ongoing coaching with monthly source sheets timed to the Hebrew calendar. 

The process follows four rules: Follow joy or energy, Notice everything, Keep going for the full time, and No commenting on your own or others’ work

The Jewish Studio Process 

Each 2+ hour session follows a rigorous structure combining text study, creative exploration, and group sharing. Sessions begin with spiritual grounding through song or poetry, followed by Beit Midrash time studying Jewish texts in chevrutas (paired learning) with guiding questions that make ancient wisdom personal. 

Participants then set intentions for artmaking, choose materials, and engage in 20+ minutes of individual creative expression using simple materials. The process follows four rules: Follow joy or energy, Notice everything, Keep going for the full time, and No commenting on your own or others’ work. Sessions conclude with individual written reflection and optional group sharing about discoveries made during the creative process. 

Accessible Leadership Development 

Jewish Studio Project deliberately trains facilitators who may be new to Jewish leadership or less confident with Jewish texts. It selects based on enthusiasm, ability to recruit others, geographic diversity, and likelihood of follow-through, providing 5-6 weeks for group formation before beginning. 

Training includes orientation sessions, comprehensive facilitator manuals, monthly content updates, and structured debrief sessions after initial meetings. The organization maintains open communication channels and may create WhatsApp groups for peer facilitator support, ensuring leaders feel empowered to guide meaningful Jewish creative experiences.