Riverfront Gallery Hosts Reception for Exhibit on Identity, Connections and Otherness

From Yonkers Public Library: Yonkers Riverfront Library’s Riverfront Art Gallery is hosting a special reception with music and food on Thurs., Nov. 2 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. to celebrate the moving “Leave Your Swords at the Door” art exhibit. Musician Cantor Ellen Dreskin and spoken word artist Saba Ghazi Ameen will be performing.

Curated by Haifa Bint-Kadi and co-sponsored by the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, the art exhibit is a collection of works by female Muslim and Jewish artists focusing on Jewish and/or Muslim identity and forming bonds with the "other.” This provocative exhibition was inspired by Monica Raymond's poem "In Cana" and features contemporary works by artists from the tri-state area.

Artists included in the exhibit:

• Haifa Bint-Kadi
• Wendy Cohen
• Ruby Chishti
• Susan C Dessel
• Rukhshan Haque
• Saba Moizudden
• Roohi Saleem
• Sania Samad
• Diana Schmertz
• Heather Stoltz
• Jane Breskin Zalben

The Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom is the first national network of Muslim and Jewish women committed to living in harmony and limiting acts of anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish sentiment. There are currently four chapters in Westchester County - each turning strangers into sisters.

This exhibit is part of First Thursday Gallery Hop sponsored by the Yonkers Gallery Group, an alliance of galleries including Blue Door Art Center, Friends of Philipse Manor Hall, Purchase College Center for Community & Culture - Yonkers (PC4Y), Urban Studio Unbound (US+U), and Yonkers Riverfront Library.

Riverfront Art Gallery is located on the fourth floor of the Yonkers Riverfront Library, One Larkin Center, and is accessible to people with disabilities. Parking is available at sidewalk meters and for a fee in the nearby Buena Vista and Warburton Parking Garages. For more event information visit www.ypl.org.

Image courtesy of Yonkers Public Library