Celebrating the Festival of Lights with the Jewish Museum and Temple Emanu-El

This holiday season we had the incredible honor of partnering with both the Jewish Museum and Temple Emanu-El Nursery School and Religious School in New York City to bring GIANT creative STEM experiences to their communities.

At the Jewish Museum, we celebrated Hanukkah and highlighted the "Light Through the Darkness" by constructing bold and vivid lightboxes, adorning celebratory figurines in jewels and expressive finery and creating a community mural that was quite literally an explosion of joy in the form of drawings, confetti, and a rainbow of paper strips. Sparked by the vibrant hues and bold patterns of the artwork of Marta Minujin, we embarked on an art making party with the families who participated in The Jewish Museum's special Hanukkah Family Day.

Marta Minujin's artwork was the inspiration for our “spark” to kick off the event — a captivating kaleidoscope of colors, shapes, and imagination that invites young minds into a world of creative wonder. Her pieces are a delightful blend of whimsy and innovation. They served as the perfect spark for a playful and lively lightbox-making workshop for our GIANT friends, both old and new, at The Jewish Museum on Hanukkah Family Day. More than 80 participants joined, celebrated, illuminated, dreamed, created, and shared during this special Family Day.

In the spirit of Hanukkah, creating light boxes can be a joyful and meaningful artistic activity for children. The traditional Festival of Lights is a time to celebrate miracles, and crafting light boxes becomes a delightful way for young artists to express their creativity while embracing the festive atmosphere. Guided by Marta’s unique approach, we encouraged families to explore their own creativity, inspiring them to incorporate a medley of textures, shapes, and colors into their own lightboxes.

Lightboxes were also the signature activity when we celebrated Hanukkuh with Temple Emanu-El, along with creating splash art, adorning celebratory figurines in jewels and expressive finery and creating a community mural that was quite literally an explosion of joy in the form of drawings, stickers, confetti, and a rainbow of paper strips. More than 100 participants joined, celebrated, illuminated, dreamed, created, and shared during this special evening.

Special thanks to the staff from The Jewish Museum, and Director of Family Programs, Rachel Katz Levine, as well as, the staff from Temple Emau-El, and Dena Warren and Gabrielle Savoldelli for spearheading these partnerships and making these events to special!

GIANT Team at Temple Emanu-El