Mollie McKinley, Sunrise Over Resting Body, 2022.
For students in grades 2–8; available December 14, 2023–April 28, 2024
ADMISSION: Free for Bay Area K–12 school groups through the 2023–2024 academic year
Explore light, science, and culture with a tour and art making experience at The CJM. First, expand your students’ horizons through a tour of First Light: Rituals of Glass and Neon Art, an exhibition featuring the creations of artists working with neon! Students will learn about the properties of the noble gases and the very physical and scientific process of creating neon artworks. Students will also connect with the artists' varied approaches to integrating their identities into their artwork and discover how the artists use light as a form of ritual, spirituality, and illumination. Then, we'll visit the Yud gallery to explore Radiant Practices: Illuminating Jewish Traditions and learn about contemporary Jewish culture through an exhibition of objects related to light in Judaism. Complete your experience with a light-inspired art making experience.
Book your tour using the button below, or visit our School Tours page to see all of our tour options.
The CJM offers an array of free, downloadable resources designed to prepare students and teachers to view exhibitions, and to support your tour experience.
For questions or help making a reservation, call 415.655.7857 or email tours@thecjm.org.
First Light: Rituals of Glass and Neon Art explores art making as a devotional practice, presenting breathtaking works that connect both artists and viewers to spirituality, wonder, and universal questions of human existence. The exhibition features artworks in neon, glass, and plasma, large-scale sculptures, and installations that invite you to learn about fascinating scientific processes while inspiring deeper contemplation of the role of light in our quest to understand our place in the universe. Experience awe, make spiritual connections, and discover the science and craft of neon and glass artwork.
Mollie McKinley, Sunrise Over Resting Body, 2022.
Radiant Practices: Illuminating Jewish Traditions traces the foundational role of light in Jewish life and ritual, both historically and today. Journey through a collection of Jewish ritual objects, from menorahs to memorial candles, that offer insights into practices that draw on light to mark Jewish holidays, lifecycle moments, and spiritual spaces. Presented in The CJM’s Stephen and Maribelle Leavitt Yud gallery, the exhibition brings new meaning to the presence of natural light within this symbolically rich gallery while offering new reflections on the forms of light that illuminate Jewish ritual.
Major support for K-12 School and Teacher Programs is generously provided by the California Arts Council; California Bank & Trust; William Randolph Hearst Foundation; Barbara and Ronald Kaufman; The Bernard Osher Foundation; Pacific Gas and Electric Company; The Ullendorff Memorial Foundation; and Yerba Buena Community Benefit Fund.