COCC event remembers Holocaust through art

In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Central Oregon Community College held a special gathering called “Art After the Holocaust.” A local historian, rabbi and artist explored events surrounding the holocaust and WWII and discussed what we can to do today to pay our respect.

Holocaust Remembrance Day is devoted to remembering the more than 10 million people who perished in the Holocaust. It is part of a week of nationally recognized days. Wednesday night’s event honored those who lost their lives nearly 70 years ago.

“It’s just to turn the table to ourselves and ask how do we remember and what’s maybe faulty about our memory,” said history professor Dr. Jessica Hammerman.

Bend artist and educator Isaac Peterson explored the artistic responses to this dark time in history.

“What I hope to inspire as an art critic is to evaluate the visual stimulus you receive all the time,” Peterson said.

He questioned how an artist can memorialize a tragedy they never experienced in person, and explained how Hitler was very passionate about art.

“He believed in shaping the minds and emotions of the German people, and he believed art was the best tool to do that,” Peterson said.

Peterson also discussed artistic responses to Hitler’s reign, one of which he says was Superman. He said the audience was surprised to hear that Superman was actually an embodiment of fascist ideas.

The artists shared the famous works of art that unfolded after the Holocaust as a way to remember all that was lost.

Ultimately, he said, the best way for people to remember the Holocaust is to be thankful for your own life.

The group took a moment of silence to pay respect to each individual life that was lost in the Holocaust.

Isaac Peterson is an artist, educator and writer. He has taught courses in painting, art history and design for more than a decade. He is currently writing a novel based in the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1910s. His art criticism has appeared in FlashArt, ArtWeek and the Jewish Week. For more information on Peterson, visit www.isaacpeterson.com.