NORTHEAST OHIO Jewish heritage museum being planned for 2005

Museum organizers want to bring together people of diverse heritage.
BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- The Mahoning Valley and other Northeast Ohio communities have space reserved for them in a Jewish heritage museum to open next spring near Cleveland.
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, a $13 million project set to open in 2005 on the grounds of the Temple-Tifereth Israel at 26000 Shaker Blvd., will have more than 12,000 square feet of permanent and temporary display space for items of local and national significance to Judaism. Displays will cover nearly 200 years of history.
While the museum will focus on the Cleveland area, there will be a section for items from outlying areas of Northeast Ohio, including the Mahoning Valley, said Jane Avner of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. The historical society, which includes the Cleveland Jewish Archives, is doing research and collecting items for the museum. So far, they have no pieces specifically from the Youngstown-Warren areas, but organizers would be glad to have some, Avner said. The museum's Web site at maltzjewishmuseum.com lists the stories to be represented in the displays with items that would be of particular interest.
Ground was broken on the museum in 2003, and construction is expected to be complete by September. Workers will begin to install exhibits late this year.
Director's vision
On Wednesday, the museum's organizers appointed Carole Zawatsky as executive director. She begins her duties Aug. 9.
"With Carole's background in education, we will reach people of diverse heritage and build bridges of understanding," said Milt Maltz, who, with his wife, Tamar, has helped to establish the museum.
Zawatsky, 45, is a native of Silver Spring, Md. For the past six years she was director of education at the Jewish Museum in New York. Previously, she was the director of Public Programs at the national Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. She also has worked at the Skirball Museum at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, Calif.
"The Maltz Museum will represent a significant institution in the cultural landscape of Cleveland, and I am looking forward to being a part of greater interaction and dialogue between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. This development of this museum not only reflects the city's rich cultural history, it points toward the success of its future," Zawatsky said.
The 24,300-square-foot museum will include 8,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space, more than 4,000 square feet for temporary exhibitions and a 60-seat theater. The internationally recognized Judaica collection of the Temple-Tifereth Israel will be part of the permanent display.
The museum is a collaborative effort of the Maltz Family Foundation, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and the Temple-Tifereth Israel.
Planners say the museum will combine state-of-the-art audio, visual and computer technologies with artifacts, memorabilia, oral history, video and film.
XOn the Web: www.maltzjewishmuseum.org.