Alissa Schapiro has been interested in the Magnes Collection for nearly 10 years. Writing about American art and antisemitism during World War II, her dissertation’s title was derived from a piece held inside the Magnes. Today, she starts her first day as the museum’s senior curator.
A block away from campus in Downtown Berkeley, the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, or the Magnes, is UC Berkeley’s only Jewish museum and research center. Founded in 1962, it is the only public university-affiliated Jewish museum in the U.S.
“The collection at the Magnes … offers opportunities to explore universally relevant stories of migration, family, faith, and identity through a specifically Jewish lens,” executive director Hannah Weisman said in an email. “The collection and the work we do at the Magnes focus on the idea that even as we seek common ground, there is value in plurality and difference. This vision … makes the Magnes a place of learning and community building for the campus.”
Schapiro previously served as the curator at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, a master’s from the Courtauld Institute of Art and a bachelor’s from Harvard University.
Schapiro mentioned outreach as critical to her success as the senior curator, adding that she judges an exhibit’s success by how many classes visited it. Weisman shared the sentiment, writing in an email that the Magnes has recently been taking a more “intentional approach to community engagement,” including connecting with UC Berkeley students and campus organizations.
The Magnes will be hosting its second annual Jewish Arts & Bookfest on May 3 to connect students and the wider Berkeley community with more than 30 authors to celebrate the diversity of Jewish culture. Tickets sit at a discounted rate of $5 for campus students.
“One of the things that really drew me to the Magnes and to Berkeley was thinking of the potential of how many different professors and classes could come and utilize the collection in their teaching,” Schapiro said. “The collection is this historic collection that shows thousands of years of art and culture that relates to, of course, Jewish history, but also larger cultural … and intellectual history and religious tradition.”
Schapiro emphasizes collaboration in her curatorial practice, be it with other museums such as BAMPFA, Skirball and Bancroft, or with faculty and students.
Currently, Magnes works with UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program and Work-Study Program to give students pathways into researching the collection.
“Most importantly, (I want to) make sure that the objects and the Magnes’s collection are not just tucked away in storage,” Schapiro said. “I very much see myself as a steward of these objects, and I don’t want them to just sit in the dark.”