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September 19, 2003/Elul 22 5763, Vol. 55, No. 56
Stepping into the spotlight
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
Deborah Harris, whose art is featured on the cover of Jewish News Community Directory 2004, paints in her home studio.
Photo courtesy of Deborah Harris
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In the local Jewish community, her name may be recognized primarily in connection with being the founding president of the Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School. But now, Deborah Harris is happy to reveal a more personal side.
Harris, an avid painter since childhood, was chosen as the featured artist on the cover of the Jewish News Community Directory 2004.
"Stand in the Light Where I Can See You" (50"x40"oil on canvas) was selected to represent the organized Jewish community's call to unaffiliated Jews in the Valley, drawing on the directory's theme of providing a connection between individual Jews and their community.
Harris describes the painting as "a visual representation of the past, the present and the future."
In order to step into the light where you can shine and be seen, a person has to be aware of his or her past and how it plays in the present and how it will play in the future, she explains.
"In the same way that this applies to an individual, I also think that the community ... needs to be aware of its past, its present and its future so it can shine," she says.
Besides her involvement with the high school, where she is now past president, Harris is also a former board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix and a current member of The New Shul in Scottsdale, where some of her paintings, "The Meditation Series," are on display.
Harris says her paintings reflect her life experiences.
"My paintings are almost like a diary of my life," she says. "There are different paintings from different time periods of my life that are very special to me."
She names her two most meaningful paintings as one of her dancing with her mother and one of her children with her father.
In the past 10 years, her work has been shown locally at the Laynor Foundation Museum and the main branch of the Peoria Public Library.
Her paintings have also been on display in The Phoenix Gallery in New York and the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Penn.
Two of her paintings were featured in the September issue of Phoenix Home and Garden.
The majority of her paintings have been purchased by individuals across the United States, she says, as well as Israel and Italy. "I don't really have the attitude that I should hang onto my paintings. I'd much rather have them out in the world."
Her future plans include pursuing her painting career more actively in the Valley.
Harris and her husband Kenn live in Peoria and have two children, Jacob, 23, and Anna, 16.
Harris says she feels "very honored" that her painting was chosen for the directory cover.
"I'm very pleased to bring together two very important pieces of my life," she says - referring to her artwork and the Phoenix Jewish community.
"This is one of those rare opportunities for my real self to be in full view - the person who is deeply committed to the Jewish community and deeply interested in the future of the Jewish community, but also a very, very active and a real painter on a daily basis. ...
"This is really a special thing for me - that my community gets to know some part of me that they may not know."
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