Singular sukkah

At harvest festival, artists put a modern spin on historic hut

Nora RobinsMany elements go into designing a sukkah. The halachic piece, of course, is important. But then there are the esthetic and practicality aspects. It is the thought process that ties it all together, and artist Nora Rabins has done her homework.

Rabins has refined her knowledge of exactly what components are needed to construct a sukkah, she said, and then infused the classic elements with her interests in connecting with people, in sustainability and in working with found materials.

“The sukkah itself should be more playful and inviting,” she said. “That will make it more accessible. I’m planning an interactive element.”

Rabins, along with artists Jonathan Bonner and Wendy MacGaw are each designing a special sukkah to be built and displayed outside Temple Beth-El in Providence, beginning Oct. 8 and continuing through Oct. 17. This installation is part of the Orchard Avenue Sukkot Harvest Festival at Beth-El on Oct. 12 from noon to 4 p.m. The project, funded by The Rhode Island Foundation and Residential Properties, is co-sponsored by The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and (401)j and Residential Properties. It was conceived by Howard Ben Tre, according to Judith Moseley, executive director of Temple Beth-El.

According to the grant proposal, the project was designed to give three artists a chance to create sukkot in the traditions and laws that define the historic sukkah. However, each artist was charged to add contemporary interpretations that are innovative, and use a variety of materials that are sustainable and renewable.

Rabins loves working with found materials. Whether she’s taking a group of teens to the scrap yard or poking around herself, she is always on the hunt for objects that will inform her work, which includes sculpture, metal-working and furniture design. Staying true to her love of found materials, Rabins used AstroTurf as the inspirational foundation for her sukkah. She used the AstroTurf for the exterior skin.

“I’m not determining the circumstance,” she says. “I’m working in the situation.”

“This is such an interesting project because it’s a farm-to-table event and a sustainable project,” she says. Add to that the nature of the harvest holiday and it poses an appealing challenge for her.

Her roof will be at a slant, “reminiscent of post-modernist architecture,” she said. You have to be able to see the stars and some sun; it will all be there. Rabin is also challenging herself to do more. “I’m making it so I can live in this tiny home. All the elements – eating, sleeping, studying – will be there.” She has many ideas that she’s still working on for the interactive part. But her sukkah will be colorful and impactful. And it won’t be finished until it’s standing near the temple. She says she’s honing her ideas as she nears fabrication, which is taking place in her Pawtucket studio.

This whole project has been a good fit for Rabins, who grew up in Baltimore with a Reform Jewish background. She is involved with many community-based projects. Also, Rabins teaches welding at The Steel Yard in Providence and 3D Design at the college-level, including at Providence College. She works with adults with disabilities among other projects. Her undergraduate degrees in art and logic and her master’s in furniture design add to her multidisciplinary art background.

“This has given me the opportunity to revisit some of my arsenal of ideas,” she says.

If this is what goes into just one sukkah, the community will be in for quite an experience with the three.

Installation begins Oct. 6 at the corner of Orchard and Butler avenues on the Eastside. Money from the grant will help fund artists’ materials, according to Moseley. Ben Tre will help artists move their finished sukkot from studio to the Orchard Avenue site. The festival will go on rain or shine.

There will be music by Brez & Pez; food will be available and Moseley hopes the street by the temple will be closed off. “This is not just a Jewish event,” said Moseley. “We are making this a whole-community event.”

FRAN OSTENDORF is the editor of The Jewish Voice.