Jerusalem-USA: Jerusalem, Rhode Island 2

23 September 2009

Jerusalem, Rhode Island 2

From Hal Curry
"Here are some pictures of the village of Jerusalem which is a part of the town of Narraganset. Across the harbor, maybe 400 yards, is the port of Galilee, also in Narragansett and one of the largest commercial fishing ports on the east coast. Jerusalem is surrounded on two sides by water - the Salt Pond and Block Island Sound / Atlantic Ocean. It is an end of the road location

Today the area is a busy summer destination. Its main attractions being the small beach on the salt pond, the ocean front, the long breakwater, fishing, and watching the commercial fishing and pleasure boats pass by. There are only two businesses right in Jerusalem. Jim’s Dock is a restaurant and marina. Skip's Dock sells fresh sea food and lobsters wholesale and retail, it has a few tables on the deck where they serve chowder and clam cakes.

Many years ago Jerusalem was inhabited by fisherman. Some stored their gear there, some lived there as well. It was not originally the tourist spot it is today.

There may be 120 cottages in the Jerusalem area. I'd guess and say about half were once on leased land on which people built small modest cottages. A few years ago the people who leased were given the opportunity to purchase the land. They formed an association and one goal seems to keep people out and limit parking. There have been several stories about this in the media (PorJo). Some have torn down the small modest cottages and rebuilt with what many consider out of character homes. I've included pictures of the changes.

Now that the summer tourist season is over and the children back in school, Jerusalem has returned to its quiet un-crowded conditions enjoyed by the many locals."

About the photographer:
Hal Curry writes: “When we married 50 plus years ago, the staff at the school where I taught gave us camera as a wedding gift. I have been taking pictures ever since. I enjoy taking outdoor pictures of anything that catches my eye. My wife and I are retired special education teachers from Connecticut. We have always enjoyed fishing and the ocean. After exploring the east coast and gulf coast, we decided there was no place we liked better than the location in RI where we already had a small summer home. As it turned out our home in East Matunuck is only about a mile and a half from Jerusalem, RI. We usually drive there two or there times a day just to see what’s happening. The area is a beautiful place to live especially if you enjoy the ocean and ocean activities."

Mel Alexenberg

As an artist, my conceptual, environmental, and digital artworks have been seen by millions and are represented in the collections of more than forty museums worldwide. As an educator in USA, I am former art professor at Columbia University, head of the art department at Pratt Institute, dean at New World School of the Arts in Miami, and reseach fellow at MIT's Center for Advanced Visual Studies. In Israel, I taught at Bar-Ilan, Ariel and Tel Aviv universities and at Emunah College and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. As a writer, my most recent books are: 'Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media,' 'Photograph God: Creating a Spiritual Blog of Your Life,' 'The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age: From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness,' 'Educating Artists for the Future: Learning at the Intersections of Art, Science, Technology, and Culture' and 'Dialogic Art in a Digital World: Judaism and Contemporary Art' (in Hebrew). I live in Ra'anana, Israel, with my wife artist Miriam Benjamin. website: www.melalexenberg.com

Jerusalem-USA

From Jerusalem in Israel to JerUSAlems in USA

'This city of Jerusalem I have set in the midst of nations, with other countries round about her.' (Ezekiel 5:5)

JerUSAlem-USA is a participatory art project that links the twenty Jerusalems in the United States with the original Jerusalem in Israel. There are Jerusalems in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont.

The name of the American Jerusalems was inspired by the Bible where we read about King David establishing Jerusalem as the capital of the unified state of the Israelite nation more than 3,000 years ago. Today, Jerusalem is the vibrant capital of the modern State of Israel.

ON PARTICIPATORY ART

JerUSAlem-USA is a participatory artwork in which the artist invites the people in USA join with him in creating a collaborative work of art. Unlike the solitary role of the visual artist in his studio, the role of the artist in a networked world is shifting to becoming more like the role of playwright/producer/director in theater and film, composer/conductor in music and choreographer in dance.

In her book The Reenchantment of Art, Suzi Gablik proposes, “a new paradigm of participation in which art will begin to redefine itself in terms social relatedness…encouraging the emergence of a more participatory, social interactive framework for art, and supporting the transition from art-for-art’s-sake assumptions of late modernism.”

As the artist of ‘JerUSAlem-USA,” I create the conceptual framework, craft the score/script, and form a team of collaborators who together under my baton bring into being an aesthetic work of participatory art.

The significance of participatory art in our networked world is explored in depth in Mel Alexenberg's books Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media (Elm Hill/HarperCollins), and The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age: From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness and Educating Artists for the Future: Learning at the Intersections of Art, Science, Technology and Culture (both published by Intellect Books/University of Chicago Press).