By Brenda Ganot, Partnership 2000

On Thursday, November 16th, 12 artists from the region exhibited their artwork at the Agur Winery, together with an evening of wine and soup. The exhibit was to the theme of "shalechet" or "falling leaves" and to set the tone the artists covered the ground of the winery with fall-colored grape leaves. Each of the exhibiting artists was asked to design something new to the theme of shalechet. Some examples were: fall-colored shoes by shoemaker Einat Kedmi, fall-colored jewelry by jewelers Neta Frishman and Orit Navon-Cohen and fall themed sculptures by Araleh Ben Arieh and Nissim Levy. One of the artists, goldsmith Meirav Ben-Or, gained inspiration in the week's Torah portion, Chayei Sarah. She designed and created an amulet to protect Hagar and Yishamel which was beautifully displayed at the exhibit.

Over 400 people attended this successful event which was planned by the Elah Valley Artists' Forum, a project sponsored by Partnership 2000, the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council and the Amutat Tayarut of Yoav-Yehuda. The next event "Omanim Madlikim" will take place during the week of Hanukkah.