Photo: Kevin Fryer
Beth Grossman, All the rest is commentary (installation view) visible from Yerba Buena Lane at The CJM.
The Four Questions is a monthly series of short-form interviews in which we catch up with an artist we've previously gotten to know through their work at The CJM. This month, hear from Beth Grossman, a San Francisco-based artist whose work has exhibited in many exhibitions at The CJM, including Sabbath, Tikkun: For the Cosmos, the Community, and Ourselves, and more.
A: The CJM has been my Jewish home in San Francisco. It has inspired my work on Jewish themes by offering opportunities to exhibit, present workshops, and engage in artist talks. I’ve had the honor of participating in nearly all of the CJM Dorothy Saxe Invitationals. A highlight was the Tikkun exhibition, where my Golden Rule Project was showcased in The Museum’s windows on Yerba Buena Lane and available for viewing 24 hours a day.
The CJM has consistently engaged with the broader Bay Area community, welcoming both Jewish and non-Jewish artists to explore Jewish ideas through diverse exhibitions, lectures, concerts, and films. It’s essential to see our multi-faceted Jewish identities reflected in cultural institutions, especially one so centrally located in the San Francisco Arts District.
The CJM’s responsive, non-collecting model has encouraged artists to create art for present realities and set a path forward. As a 21st-century Jewish artist, I honor my heritage while embracing a contemporary feminist perspective.
Beth Grossman, All the rest is commentary (installation view) visible from Yerba Buena Lane at The CJM.
A: Creating art to engage the public about global warming is always timely. Our changing environment brings destruction of biblical proportions, with extreme weather reshaping the land. The question isn’t whether humans are responsible, but how we adapt. Nature is writing new stories, so we grieve, recover, and cautiously move forward as each storm leaves its mark on the landscape. Our evolving climate language reflects this reality.
Of Biblical Proportions is a climate Torah—a series of four seasons painted on 17-foot canvas scrolls using repurposed materials. The spring scroll debuted at Brisbane, California’s City Hall, a place of local decision-making, serving as an environmental reminder. During the exhibit, I hosted five Artist Studios sessions inviting citizens to create Climate Action Postcards and to commit to protecting the environment. This project is a pilot for integrating artists into government spaces to shape decisions that impact future generations. I am excited to complete this series of landscapes and continue gathering people to participate in climate action efforts.
A: I listen. I notice when the power of social beliefs in the interpretation of history and religion collides with our place in nature. When the "elephant in the room” begs me enough, the unanswerable questions compel me to respond artistically.
As an artist and community builder, I create opportunities to connect people and spark conversations. My local community in Brisbane, California, and my global relations, are integral to my process. I especially enjoy creating site-specific work when I can envision the space and the audience engaging with it. My art objects and performances set the tone, establish context, and invite meaningful participation.
Table Talk led by Beth Grossman on what Israel could look like if all lived by the Golden Rule.
A: Without a doubt, my favorite Jewish food is my Grandma Bertha’s carrot mold. It was basically a carrot cake baked in a ring. As a kid, I loved getting to have dessert served together with savory dishes like matzoh ball soup and chopped liver during family Shabbat dinners. I asked my 90-year-old mom to find the handwritten recipe. Here’s a photo of the recipe, in my mother’s handwriting, a cherished family heirloom.
Recipe transcription:
Cream crisco and sugar, then add eggs, carrots, flour, and the rest of the ingredients. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake in greased jello ring for 45 mins.
But my favorite recipe is one for Liberation that I wrote on a vintage rolling pin adorned with my mother’s cocktail apron for entertaining in the 1960’s. “First make the vision and allow it to simmer until all the right relationships are made. Gently combine outspokenness and righteousness with care and joy. Stirring constantly, add decisive leadership. Knead love and closeness until smooth. Roll out support on a foundation of trust. Cut the drama and bring the rough edges together in a well-organized plan with a heaping tablespoon of boldness. A pinch of chutzpah will ensure a tight seal, but leave a small gap of flexibility in the center to allow steam to escape. Brush with a topping of humanity and bake until firm.” © Beth Grossman
Beth Grossman uses art as a creative force to stimulate conversation about the power of social beliefs in the interpretation of history and religion. The artist takes creative liberty with authoritative documents, such as the Constitution or the Torah, and makes them accessible with beauty, design and humor. By shifting the context of familiar texts, images, and objects, she opens them up for fresh examinations that are playful, stimulating, and thought provoking.
As an “Artist at Large,” Grossman has collaborated with communities, universities, public parks, corporations, non-profits, and museums in the USA, Russia, Ukraine, China, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Finland and Norway. Her artwork and participatory performances, workshops, and gatherings aim to raise awareness about our place in nature, build community, and encourage civic engagement.