Menorahs bring a warm glow to Vashon Center for the Arts

By Elizabeth Shepherd • December 23, 2019 1:30 am
Two of 27 menorahs on display — an installation islander Risa Stahl called a “menorah flash mob” — graced Vashon Center for the Arts’ lobby in December. (Courtesy photo)
Two of 27 menorahs on display — an installation islander Risa Stahl called a “menorah flash mob” — graced Vashon Center for the Arts’ lobby in December. (Courtesy photo)

In early December, Vashon Center for the Arts gallery business manager Lynann Politte walked into VCA’s soaring lobby, filled with a Christmas tree and wreath, and noticed something missing — a spirit of inclusion for the island’s Jewish community.

Politte, looking for ideas, turned to her friend Risa Stahl, who immediately had an idea to correct the problem.

“‘Menorahs are a work of art and there are so many types. What about an installation of menorahs?,’” Stahl told Politte.

Stahl put out a call to her Vashon Jewish community. Within four days, 27 menorahs — many of them treasured family heirlooms and keepsakes — had been delivered to VCA and placed in the window sills of the tall west-facing walls of the center’s atrium.

The assortment of traditional, contemporary and artisan-created menorahs created a sensation, according to Politte.

All of them came with “a story and memories within the candle-wax drippings,” she said.