Studio of Arnold Schwarzbart Arnold Schwarzbart ז״ל · 1942 – 2015 · Knoxville, Tennessee

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Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge

Tree of Life

Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge

Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge, Crown of the tree — Crown of the tree

Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge, Painting the Torah text — Painting the Torah text

Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge, Work in progress — Work in progress

Location: Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Year: 2008
Materials: Painted mural
Dimensions: 18 ft x 15 ft

The congregation's rabbi, Victor Rashkovsky, stood in front of the fifteen foot high wall at the end of a vaulted ceiling, spread his arms and said: "it needs to fill this space." The rabbi and the committee really wanted a "Tree of Life" and I wanted to give them one that was ethereal and unique. The Torah is called a tree of life and the rollers that carry the parchment are called trees. Those are the symbols that led to this painted mural that has a realistic Torah image with two surreal trees growing out of the rollers to form a crown. A fine mural painter and friend, Jim Wyatt, assisted with the painting.

Arnold Schwarzbart

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Arnold Schwarzbart, z"l. March 10, 1942 to March 16, 2015.

His papers are held as the Arnold Schwarzbart Collection, MSC 0576, in the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection at the Knox County Public Library. See also The Legacy Project.

Images and text © Arnold Schwarzbart and family. All rights reserved.