Make Jewish Papercut Art

Art workshop with visual artist 2026 LABA Fellow Molly Almeida

12:00 pm | Conference Room

Jewish Arts and Bookfest
Sunday, May 3, 2026

at UC Berkeley’s Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley,  CA

Presented in partnership with JCC East Bay and LABA Bay Area.

Join artist Molly Almeida in a hands-on workshop exploring the art of papercutting.

Jewish papercutting is a vibrant folk art with roots stretching back centuries. Artists cut intricate, often perfectly symmetrical designs from paper as a form of hiddur mitzvah—beautifying the commandments. Because it required only simple materials, the craft flourished widely, especially in 18th- and 19th-century Ashkenazi communities in Europe, as well as among Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. Join Molly in learning how to transform everyday paper into meaningful objects.

Ages 5 and up.  Children must be accompanied by an adult. Limited to 10 parent/child pairs.

About Molly Almeida

Molly Almeida is a visual artist with a formal background in printmaking and foundry sand-casting processes. Within her art practice, she explores the magical and spiritual realms of reality through detailed narrative imagery. 

About LABA Bay Area

LABA BAY AREA is a laboratory for Jewish culture and a program of the Firehouse. It is part of an international collective of LABAs, all of which use classic Jewish texts to inspire the creation of art, culture, conversation, and community. The program began in 2007 at the 14th Street Y in New York City (LABA NY), and now has hubs in Buenos Aires (LABA BA), the Bay Area (LABA BAY), and Berlin (LABA BE). LABA BAY AREA was formerly LABA East Bay, and a program of the JCC East Bay. LABA presents Judaism’s rich literary and intellectual tradition in a free and creative setting, so that these fertile stories and ideas spark new thought and creative work. The output from our laboratory hubs push the boundaries of what Jewish culture can be and what Jewish texts can teach.