Artist Talk & Workshop | The Beginning of Possibility

A FLOWING THROUGH TIME AND TRADITION PROGRAM

Presented by the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, Jewish Studio Project, and Ayin Press. 

In the beginning was creation: ever since, Jews have delved into traditional texts to create new stories. This process, known as midrash, can be expressed in many forms, including works of visual art such as those featured in Flowing through Time and Tradition. Join author Rabbi Adina Allen and multimedia artist Naomie Kremer to explore the visual interpretation of texts in this conversation and art workshop.

Thursday, January 29, 2026 | 5:30-7:00 pm

In person at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA

Ticket prices:

• FULL PRICE: $25.00
• FRIENDS OF THE MAGNES: $20.00 (Look for the promo code in your inbox. For questions, email magnes@berkeley.edu)
• STUDENTS: $5.00 (Current student ID will be required for entry)
• MUSEUMS FOR ALL: $5.00 (EBT/SNAP card required for entry)

Tickets at the door will be sold to capacity by cash or check only.

If you have any questions about accessibility or require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact us at dalter@berkeley.edu or call us at (510) 643-2526 with as much advance notice as possible.

The program includes:

• Rabbi Adina Allen and Naomie Kremer in conversation
• Chaos and Creation, a participatory art workshop led by Rabbi Allen
• Signing of Rabbi Allen’s book The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom, a paradigm-shifting work that reframes the whole of Torah as a contemporary guidebook for creativity

Please join us before The Beginning of Possibility program on visual midrash for a special screening of Naomie Kremer and David Grubin’s film, In the Beginning Was Desire, a mythopoetic journey through the story of Adam and Eve featuring renowned Biblical scholar Aviva Zornberg. The 40-minute film will start at 11:30am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm, and 4:30 pm. Learn more.

Watch In the Beginning Was Desire.

Program is subject to change.

Rabbi Allen’s book will be available for sale during the program courtesy of Afikomen Books.

About the speakers

Rabbi Adina Allen is a spiritual leader, writer, and visionary educator pioneering a contemporary Jewish path grounded in the transformative power of creativity. As co-founder and Creative Director of Jewish Studio Project (JSP), she is shaping a movement that places creativity at the heart of Jewish life. Integrating insights from the field of art therapy with Jewish text study and spiritual practice, Adina developed the Jewish Studio Process—a groundbreaking methodology that activates creativity as a force for healing, connection, and social transformation. Drawing from her own upbringing in an artist’s studio and her rabbinic training, she brings a unique lens to the integration of art, spirituality, and personal growth. Through JSP, Adina has worked with thousands of educators, clergy, artists, and community leaders across hundreds of organizations, helping individuals and institutions alike cultivate creativity as an essential capacity for vibrant Jewish life and collective renewal. Adina is the author of The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom (Ayin, 2024), which reframes Torah as a guide for creative awakening and spiritual transformation. Her work has been recognized with the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize for emerging Jewish educators and has been featured in a wide range of publications and learning venues across the country. Adina was ordained through Hebrew College’s pluralistic rabbinic program, where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She lives in Berkeley, California with her spouse, musician and JSP co-founder Jeff Kasowitz, and their two children.

Naomie Kremer is a painter, video artist, and stage designer. She has exhibited widely in the US and abroad. Her work is in many private and public collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Berkeley Art Museum, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the US Embassy, Beijing, China.
Kremer’s imagery, though largely abstract, is based in the real world. Incorporating nature, architecture, language, letterforms, and the human figure, her work draws from a wide range of sources and inspirations, including art history, music, poetry and literature. Her video based set design led her to begin combining painting and video.
Kremer’s video based set designs include the San Francisco production of Tristan and Isolde, by Richard Wagner; Lucia Berlin Stories, performed in San Francisco and Paris by Word for Word Theater Company; Alcina, by George F Handel, performed in Acre, Israel, by the French Baroque orchestra Les Talens Lyriques; the world premiere production of The Secret Garden co-commissioned by San Francisco Opera and Cal performances; Light Moves, a collaboration with Margaret Jenkins Dance Company; and Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók, commissioned by the Berkeley Opera. In the Beginning Was Desire, for which she conceived and created the animation, is her first film project. In 2024 she worked with Shadowlight Productions to create a short film based on Marc Chagall’s autobiography. The film won an award for Best Experimental US short at the Austin International Art Festival. Kremer has taught Painting and Drawing at California College of the Arts, SF; The San Francisco Art Institute; California State University, Hayward; and the Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art, Brittany, France. She has been a visiting artist and guest lecturer at The Ruskin School of Drawing and Painting, Oxford University; the Syracuse University Painting Program, Florence, Italy; Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota; and Mills College, Oakland. Learn more at www.naomiekremer.com

About the exhibition
Exploring the theme of water through the holdings of the Magnes Collection, Flowing through Time and Tradition traces how water flows through and shapes Jewish lives: enacting belief, sustaining life and communities, providing the means for spiritual cleansing, and mapping identities.

PRESENTED BY

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