Ruth Weisberg’s art helped bring the Reform Movement’s Open Door Haggadah to life with inclusive, feminist imagery. Weisberg studied art in Italy and Paris before returning to the US to teach and open her own studio. Weisberg’s work spans drawing, painting, and large-scale installations, such as her “Sisters and Brothers,” which featured a Stonehenge-like structure made of panels showing siblings in moments of separation and connection. She has had over 70 solo shows and 160 group exhibitions, and her work is featured in the collections of 60 museums and universities worldwide. In 1990, she became the first woman president of the College Art Association. She viewed her work on the Open Door Haggadah as an opportunity to reimagine and interpret the most illustrated text in the Jewish tradition. A documentary about her life and art, Ruth Weisberg: On the Journey, won a gold medal at the Aurora Film and Video Festival in 2003. She has served as dean of fine arts at the University of Southern California since 1995.
