Art Exhibition at Yale to Honor Memory of Dr. Donald Cohen

The Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale will host an art exhibition titled “Tikkun Ha’Olam: Meditations in Blue,” paintings by Mindy Weisel, in memory of Dr. Donald Cohen, former director of Yale’s Child Study Center and the Sterling Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology.

The art will be on view in the Rabinowitz Gallery of the Slifka Center, 80 Wall Street, from February 20 through April 10. An opening reception will take place on Thursday, February 21, from 4:30- 6 p.m. The artist will be present, as will members of the Yale community who will memorialize Cohen, who died in October 2001. This event is free and open to the public.

Widely recognized as the leading American child psychiatrist of his generation, Cohen was also known as a great scientist, psychoanalyst, social policy advocate and institution builder. He made groundbreaking contributions in biological psychiatry, clinical care and the development of international collaborations in child psychiatry. Cohen joined the faculty of the School of Medicine in 1972 and became director of the Child Study Center in 1983.

“Donald Cohen was a great friend to the Slifka Center and a warm and caring mentor to generations of Jewish students at Yale,” said Amy Aaland, managing director of the Slifka Center. “He was a visionary force for the campaign to create the Slifka Center and was an inspired leader of the Board.” The Slifka Center provides a central location for Yale Hillel, a kosher kitchen, religious services and a wide variety of cultural, political, educational and social programs for Yale and the New Haven community.

Weisel’s art hangs in museums and public spaces around the world, including the Smithsonian’s Hirshorn Museum and National Museum of American Art, the Israel Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art and the U.S. Capitol. Her work has been featured in 18 solo and more than 30 group exhibitions since 1977. Weisel has won honors in the visual arts and participated in the State Department’s Art in Embassies Program. An interview about her art and life aired in 1997 on CNN’s “Impact.” Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Art News and more.

Art critic Michael Welzenbach comments that “Weisel paints the passion of life, the intensity of the moment. Her richly colored abstracts positively glow. Slashed and dashed with gestural writing and mysterious imagery in dark blacks and crystal blues, greens and reds, these enormous watercolors define emotions ranging from the deepest brooding sadness to gayest laughter … Weisel’s energy communicates directly, from heart to heart.”

This show is made possible by the Allan and Leah Rabinowitz Art Fund of Yale Hillel. Gallery Hours are Monday -Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday -Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.