by Caron Tabb
I am honored and humbled to be showing my work at the Gallery @ Mayyim Hayyim along with Rhoda Rosenberg, whose prints I have admired for a long time: the deep family connections she conveys in her work are touching and beautiful.
During visits to our respective studios, members of the art committee – volunteers from Mayyim Hayyim and the Jewish Arts Collaborative – saw that both of us based much of our work on family, which inspired the title, “Family Values.” At first, I was hesitant about those words, given my (maybe our collective) hypersensitivity to that term and the negative political connotations it has taken on.
But it occurred to me that this was exactly the right title. Much of my work in this exhibition was created during and after a very difficult time in my family’s life. Our son was battling mental health issues, which claimed much of our collective energy, and sunk him into the depths of despair. With support from our family, and friends who are family, and our Jewish community, we came out the other end. Family and community are our source of strength and our lasting support system. This is what Family Values means to me – the value of family.
I have shown my work in many commercial galleries around the United States but never in a Jewish setting. When I stopped at Mayyim Hayyim to deliver my work, a young couple was in the reception area. The husband had just immersed as part of his conversion to Judaism. As he was being blessed by his rabbis and teachers, I teared up as he joined this very large extended family of ours, and I was struck by our responsibility as a community to welcome, engage, and support him and others who share our Jewish values. 
I’m grateful to Mayyim Hayyim for creating this incredibly important Jewish spiritual place and to Mayyim Hayyim and JArts for bringing together so many talented artists.
I hope you will stop by to see “Family Values,” which will be in the gallery until September.
The gallery is typically open by appointment only. Please e-mail gallery@mayyimhayyim.org or call 617-244-1836, ext. 211 to schedule a visit to view the exhibit or learn more about Mayyim Hayyim. We also offer Gallery open hours, which will next take place on June 25 from 3 – 6 PM.
Caron Tabb was born in South Africa and raised in Israel, where she met her fabulous husband and had two children. After many years of non-profit management while dabbling in jewelry making, studying fashion and designing interiors, she fell in love with painting. Caron has found the process of painting and making abstract art to be liberating and meaningful in a very profound way.