Arts & Entertainment

Best Art Gallery

Art allows for much interpretation (especially if you buy into the idea of two Jews having three opinions), but j. readers didn’t hesitate when picking their favorite art galleries in the Bay Area. The Fraenkel Gallery was chosen as the best in San Francisco, and MiLa Fine Arts won in the East Bay.

Photography, aided by technological improvements, has come a long way since the Fraenkel Gallery opened 27 years ago. But “for us, every day and every exhibition is a new invention,” says co-owner Frish Brandt. “We don’t repeat ourselves. That’s what keeps it interesting for people who come to visit.”

One of the few Jewish art galleries in the Bay Area, MiLa Fine Arts carries Judaica and Israeli artwork in a variety of media. “People in this part of the country have not been exposed to a broad spectrum of Israeli art,” notes owner Michelle Schwartz. “One of my missions is to educate people and to showcase Israeli art from the early 1920s and ‘30s, all the way up to contemporary.”

Sutton Studios & Gallery won second place in San Francisco.

First Place

San Francisco

Fraenkel Gallery
(415) 981-2661
www.fraenkelgallery.com

East Bay

MiLa Fine Arts
Berkeley
(510) 845-0653

Second Place

San Francisco

Sutton Studios & Gallery
(415) 641-1221
www.jeremysutton.com

Best Jewish Theater

Jewish theater has evolved exponentially from the original days of “Fiddler on the Roof.”


So maybe that’s why the innovative Traveling Jewish Theatre topped this category.


In its 28th season, the TJT continues to be the prime Jewish theater in the country creating new work in an ensemble style. “In providing great art and theater that happens to be Jewish, we’re providing a space for people to explore facets of their Jewish identity,” explains managing director Devra Aarons.


The National Jewish Theatre Festival’s “The MeshugaNutcracker” won second place.

First Place

Bay Area

Traveling Jewish Theatre
(415) 522-0786
www.atjt.com

Second Place

Bay Area

National Jewish Theatre Festival’s “The Meshuga-Nutcracker”
(510) 795-0570
www.njtf.org

Best Local Jewish Performer

Robert Strong plays with fire. He also enjoys juggling chainsaws and hanging upside-down in a straightjacket. But it is no trick of magic that he was voted the best local Jewish performer in the Bay Area.


Strong has been the Comedy Magician for more than 22 years, but don’t confuse him with the red-nosed clown of yore. With clients such as Oracle, Mercedes-Benz and Coca Cola, he works mainly in corporate entertainment. “I love making a grown adult feel like a kid again,” he says.


Storyteller Joel Ben Izzy won second place for the Bay Area.

First Place

Bay Area

Robert Strong
(415) 665-2442
www.strongentertainment.com

Second Place

Bay Area

Joel Ben Izzy
(510) 883-0883
www.storypage.com

Best Local Jewish Visual Artist

Jeremy Sutton is a London native, swing dancer, physicist — and this year’s best local Jewish visual artist. J. readers were clearly impressed with his mixtures of traditional art media and the digital capabilities of computer program Corel Painter. His striking portraits include Holocaust survivors, Yitzhak Rabin and Malcolm X.


“What I want to convey in my painting has a lot to do with feeling and passion and emotion and movement,” says Sutton. “I’m truly living a life where I’m living my passion.”


Second place went to metal artist Aimee Golant.

First Place

Bay Area

Jeremy Sutton
(415) 641-1221
www.jeremysutton.com

Second Place

Bay Area

Aimee Golant
(415) 682-7128
www.aimeegolant.com

Best Museum

The Judah L. Magnes Museum has one of the largest Jewish art collections in the country, so it should be no surprise that the institution was voted this year’s Reader’s Choice winner in the Bay Area.


The Magnes is currently boasting about its “My America” exhibition, which looks at early 20th-century American art from the perspective of four Jewish artists. “It gives us a chance to help educate future generations of Jewish people and non-Jews alike about the people and societies that created these important pieces that represent our history and ritual,” says executive director Terry Pink Alexander.


Second place in the Bay Area went to the de Young Museum.

First Place

Bay Area

The Judah L. Magnes Museum
Berkeley
(510) 549-6950
www.magnes.org

Second Place

Bay Area

The de Young Museum
San Francisco
(415) 863-3330
www.thinker.org/deyoung