New initiatives

Kiki Smith & Deborah Gans Window

In 2009 the Museum grappled with a classic preservation dilemma: In an historic site, how do you treat an important design element that has been lost or altered? Case in point: Our tablet-shaped glass-block window which was introduced in 1944 after the original stained glass was damaged and removed. At the time, the congregation did not have funds to return it to its original grandeur. In 2009, the Museum met with leading architects, preservationists, historians and curators to help decide how to treat this element. Ultimately, it was decided to commission a new window. “That was a way of extending the story,” commented Deputy Director Amy Stein-Milford. “It was a way of marking a new chapter in the synagogue’s history, its glorious restoration.”

With the [upcoming] installation of Kiki Smith and Deborah Gans’ extraordinary window in this sacred landmark, Eldridge Street’s evolution now spans three generations — built in the 19th century, preserved in the 20th, and renewed in the 21st.
— Robert Tierney, Chairman, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

After a meticulous decision-making process, a design by artist Kiki Smith and architect Deborah Gans was selected. According to Susan Freedman, President of the Public Art Fund: “Kiki Smith and Deborah Gans were an inspired choice for the East Window at the Museum at Eldridge Street. Kiki Smith is one of the most important visual artists working today and her poetic and powerful work beautifully compliments the historic setting in a transcendent way. This fantastic collaboration with architect Deborah Gans is a jewel in the collection of sacred and contemporary art in New York City.” The window will be unveiled in the fall of 2010.

Major support for the East Window initiative has been provided, in part, by American Express, The David Berg Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The David Geffen Foundation, and the City of New York. List as of December 31, 2009.