Jewish Artists of Louisville: A Collaboration between Humanities and Jewish Studies Showcases Creative Voices in the Community

The University of Louisville’s Interdisciplinary and Public Humanities Department and its Jewish Studies program are celebrating creativity, identity, and resilience through the Jewish Artists of Louisville 2024–2025 series—an initiative that shines a light on artists whose work connects faith, culture, and personal expression. 

The art can be viewed at Ekstrom Library in The Susan and William Yarmuth Jewish Studies Reading Room. 

One of this year’s featured artists is Rabbi Laura Metzger, a micro-farmer, artist, and spiritual leader whose creative journey bridges art and healing. Metzger began drawing during a summer spent in Jerusalem, capturing the world around her from her kitchen table. Over time, her practice evolved—she experimented with natural materials such as tea, coffee, lichens, and seed pods to create textured, organic pieces. 

After undergoing treatment for a rare eye cancer, Metzger’s approach to art changed profoundly. Her vision loss altered how she perceives color and form, yet deepened her sense of discovery.  

“Drawing, all art, teaches you to see differently,” she explains. “I see differently. And I make art differently.” Today, her work often features ink and water, exploring how colors dissolve and blend in unexpected ways. 

Metzger’s latest series, which she calls Assemblages, was inspired by her friend, wood artist Matthew Karr. She transforms wood scraps and found materials into intricate compositions—each piece a meditation on impermanence and surprise.  

“The joy is in not knowing what’s going to happen,” she says. “Constant discovery thrills me.” 

The Jewish Artists of Louisville program, supported by the UofL College of Arts & Sciences Jewish Studies program in partnership with the Jewish Community of Louisville, highlights the creative diversity of Louisville’s Jewish artists. Through stories like Rabbi Metzger’s, the project fosters dialogue about how art and identity intersect—and how creativity can offer new ways of seeing the world.