ARIZONA

Congregation Beth Israel, Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum
10460 N. 56th Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85253
Pamela S. Levin, Director
Tel: (480) 951-0323 ext. 121
Email: srosenthal@cbiaz.org
Website: http://www.cbiaz.org/about/museum

Founded in 1967 at Congregation Beth Israel, the Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum has grown to be one of the Southwest's most important institutions of education in the Jewish heritage. With a full program of exhibits, events and activities, the Museum offers all audiences a unique insight into the 5,000 years of Jewish culture.

Jewish History Museum
564 South Stone Avenue
P.O. Box 889
Tucson, AZ 85701
Eileen Warshaw, Executive Director
Tel: (520) 670-9073
Fax: (520) 670-9078
Email: JHMTucson@gmail.com
Website: http://jewishhistorymuseum.org/index.php

Housed in the oldest synagogue building in Arizona, the collections of the Jewish History Museum include papers, photographs, oral histories, textiles, books and religious objects from the pioneer period 1854 through the modern era. The collection is being catalogued and will in the near future be accessible online. Researchers may access the collections via the museum office

CALIFORNIA

Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Tel: (415) 655-7800
Email:info@thecjm.org
Public Relations: Nina Sazevich
Tel: (415) 752-2483
Email: nina911@pacbell.net
Website: http://www.thecjm.org/

Since its founding in 1984, the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) has distinguished itself as a welcoming place where visitors can connect with one another through dialogue and shared experiences with the arts.

Ever changing, the CJM is a non-collecting institution that partners with national and international cultural institutions to present exhibitions that are both timely and relevant and represent the highest level of artistic achievement and scholarship.

The CJM makes the diversity of the Jewish experience relevant for a twenty-first century audience. We accomplish this through innovative exhibitions and programs that educate, challenge, and inspire

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
2121 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
Tel: (510) 643-2526
Email: (General Inquiries): magnes@library.berkeley.edu
Email: (Research & Collections): magnesresearch@library.berkeley.edu
Press Contact: Jose Rodriguez
Email: rodriguez@berkeley.edu
Tel: (510) 643 -7123
Website: http://www.magnes.org/
See ARCHIVES for the Magnes collections, finding aids, and contact numbers.

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life is based on the holdings of the former Judah L. Magnes Museum, one of the first Jewish museums in the United States, founded in Berkeley in 1962 by Seymour Fromer and his wife, Rebecca Camhi Fromer.

Reflecting the guiding concerns of American Jewry after the Holocaust, the Magnes focused on preserving the legacy of vanishing communities around the world. Its founding paralleled the establishment of Jewish studies as an academic field, and the museum continued to involve leading scholars, including UC Berkeley faculty and students, in the development and interpretation of its holdings. Responding to the ethos of pluralism of the 1960's, the Magnes expanded the canon of Jewish cultural history, integrating visual, musical and material cultures with traditional text-focused approaches.
The museum's first significant acquisition, in 1967, was the Siegfried S. Strauss Collection, which included hundreds of Jewish ritual objects, documents, rare books and manuscripts from Europe. Subsequently, its unique perspective led to collecting beyond the boundaries of Western societies, and embraced the Jewish cultures of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. At the same time, the Magnes pioneered the study and documentation of regional Jewish history in the American West.

Over the years, through purchases and generous gifts, the Magnes has continued to expand the scope of its collection including modern and contemporary art, music, and rare books and manuscripts in Hebrew and other Jewish languages.

Skirball Cultural Center
2701 North Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Tel: (310) 440-4500
Email: info@skirball.org
Website: http://www.skirball.org/

The Skirball's mission is to explore the connections between four thousand years of Jewish heritage and the vitality of American democratic ideals. It seeks to welcome and inspire people of every ethnic and cultural identity in American life.

The Skirball features an extraordinary museum, changing exhibitions, engaging music, theater, comedy, film, family, and literary programs, Zeidler's Café, and Audrey's Museum store, and a new interactive family destination inspired by the Noah's Ark story-all in a stunning architectural setting designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie. More than 600,000 people visit the Skirball each year. They may be coming to enjoy an exhibition, attend a music program, participate in a meeting hosted by a community organization, educational institution, or local business, or partake in a life-cycle event such as a baby naming, wedding, or memorial service. The Skirball's acclaimed school program serves more than 60,000 children and teachers annually from public, private, and parochial schools.

The Skirball's core exhibition, Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America, traces the experiences and accomplishments of the Jewish people over four thousand years. The galleries include multimedia installations, rare artifacts, photographs, interactive computer stations, and sound recordings that lead visitors on the Jewish people's journey, culminating with their history in the United States. The story presented is about retaining one's own culture while adapting to life in America. As with all Skirball exhibitions and programs, it seeks to communicate universal themes to people of all heritages and beliefs.

COLORADO

Mizel Museum
400 South Kearney Street
Denver, CO 80224-1238
Ellen Premack, Executive Director
Tel: (303) 394-9993 ext. 5011
Email: ellen@mizelmuseum.org
Georgina Kolber, Curator of Exhibitions,
Collections and Programs
Tel: (303) 394-9993 ext. 5014
Email: gkolber@mizelmuseum.org
Website: http://www.mizelmuseum.org/
Museum hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 am -- 5:00 pm
Jewish and national holidays are observed.

The Mizel Museum was founded by Dr. Rabbi Stanley Wagner and Denver philanthropists Carol and Larry A. Mizel in 1982 to bring attention to Jewish art, history, culture, and Jewish life in Colorado. Its inaugural exhibition was titled "Denver Jewry Through the Years: A Family Album." Over the years, it has grown from a small ethnic museum to a nationally-recognized, award-winning institution reaching broad local and regional audiences with cross-cultural programs that promote dialogue, reflection and creativity. A sampling of its many exhibitions and outreach programs includes: "Bridges of Understanding," which focuses on the ceremonies and festivals of major cultural groups worldwide, including the Jewish people; and "Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World)," which featured sayings of 54 participants from 27 countries, each expressed in its own language. The Mizel Museum also offers family events, summer camps, and classes in art, dance, and crafts for children of all faiths.

OREGON

Oregon Jewish Museum
1953 NW Kearney Street
Portland, OR 97209-3925
Judith Margles, Director
Tel: (503) 226-3600 ext.103
Fax: (503) 226-1800
Email: judy@ojm.org
Website: http://www.ojm.org
Museum hours:
Tuesday - Thursday 10:30 am -- 4 pm
Friday 10:30 am -- 3 pm
Sundays 1pm -- 4 pm
Admission: $6, $4 for students and seniors,
free for members and children under 12.
See ARCHIVES for OJM collections, finding aids, and contact numbers.

The history of the Oregon Jewish Museum began in 1974 when a group of volunteers formed the Oregon Jewish Historical Society and embarked on an extensive oral history project. Two decades later, this archival collection was acquired by and served as the foundation for the then homeless museum. In need of a space to house its ever-growing collection, the Oregon Jewish Museum moved first to a donated office suite in Northwest Portland and then to a small, storefront location in Portland's Old Town. At these locations the museum established itself through several successful exhibitions, public programs, and the publication of a quarterly newsletter. Most recently, the Museum relocated to a new 6,400 square-foot facility in Northwest Portland, where, for the first time, it hosts multiple, concurrent exhibitions. A newly equipped auditorium with multimedia equipment has become the site of new programs that include films, lectures, chamber music, poetry readings, and intimate theatre experiences.