Curricula Vitae

Bezalel-Levy is the combined signature of Chaim Bezalel and Yonnah Ben Levy. We collaborate on mixed media paintings combining photography and media such as oils, oil pastels, or watercolors on rice paper or cotton rag paper. We have been collaborating since 1990 and we also work individually. In 2002 we opened Stanwood House Gallery & Art Center, in Stanwood, Washington in a restored, hundred year old landmark building to which we added a modern, architecturally designed ceramics studio. Stanwood House Gallery can be seen at www.stanwoodhouse.com and Bezalel-Levy is linked from there.

Yonnah Ben Levy was raised in Seattle, Washington. She attended Whitman College and received her B.A. in art from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she studied at the Corcharan Gallery under a Zen master ceramicist. She received a Masters of Art for Teachers at the University of Washington. She has been a professional artist since 1976. Her bronze sculptures and paintings of wildlife and birds have been exhibited in galleries, and museums such as the Museum of Native American Art in Spokane. In 1981 she moved to Israel and worked for artists and craftsmen in various media including illuminated parchments, ceramics, jewelry, woodcarving, and sculpture. Since 1989, she has been collaborating with her husband, Chaim Bezalel, on their own original work. She also continues pursuing her own sculpture and ceramic work. She taught art in the Israeli school system for ten years. In 2002, Yonnah and Chaim opened Stanwood House Gallery and Art Center in Stanwood, Washington. In addition to exhibiting there and elsewhere, she runs a ceramics program. She is a member of the Washington State Potters Association and has been published in Pottery Making Illustrated. She is also on the teaching faculty of Grunewald Guild (artfaith.com) in Washington.

Chaim Bezalel was born in New York City and grew up in Dobbs Ferry, NY. He received a B.S. in Radio, TV, and Film from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After graduating, he spent several years on his own photography, working at a variety of jobs, some of them for photo-essays. In 1988 he moved to Israel and established Bezalel-Levy Editions which published his and his wife's work in various media. He has published two books which include his photography. He currently works with photography, film, and music in mixed media. He also has developed a workshop called “Telling Your Story Through Art” which he leads at Josephine Sunset Retirement home in Stanwood. He is also on the teaching faculty of Grunewald Guild in Washington.

Individual Exhibits

1989 - "Words and Pictures" - Beit Shmuel, Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem
1991 - "Urim and Thummim" – Khan Museum, Ashkelon, Israel

1996 - "Dying of Romanticism" - The Jerusalem Theater (during the Int'l Film Festival)
1997 - "Dying of Romanticism"- Khan Museum, Ashkelon, Israel

1999- "East and West, Near and Far" (Still Life) - Evolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA
1998 - 2001 - Traveling exhibit of originals and prints: "Architectural Elements" (paintings from Israel). Cities included New York, Kansas City, San Francisco, Portland, OR, Clearwater, FL, Vancouver BC., and Seattle.
2002-2007 - Stanwood House Gallery has presented numerous exhibitions including work by Bezalel-Levy as well as other artists

July – Sept., 2005 "Pacific Scrolls" (25 paintings plus ceramic ginger jars) at the Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay Oregon

2005 – Pacific Scrolls, Knutzen Family Theater Gallery, Federal Way

February 2006 – “Reminiscences of Jerusalem” (paintings and ceramics) Strom JCC, Portland, OR (in conjunction with the NCECA –National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts annual convention)

May 2006 – Solovei Gallery, Everett, WA – “Return to the New World”

May 2009 – “Pacific Scrolls” at Mt. Hood College, Oregon

2009 – “Pacific Scrolls” at Moses Lake Museum, Washington,

2009 - Still Life exhibit at Knudson Family Theater Gallery in Federal Way, Washington

Group Shows and International Fairs (partial list)
Jerusalem Int'l Book Fair (bi-annually)1991-97
Jerusalem Judaica Fair (bi-annually)1992-98
1995 Frankfurt Book Fair
1997-2004 Artexpo NY
2000 "Icons" - East Shore Gallery, Bellevue, WA
2002-2009 - Stanwood House has presented group and individual shows quarterly

2008 – Coos Art Museum – “Expressions West” juried show

2008 - "Apple Art" - juried show at Wenatchee Valley Museum

2010 – Exhibit of Artist Educators at Wenatchee Valley Museum

Collections

Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital lobby (near Houston, TX) (mural sized painting)

Providence Everett Hospital Regional Cancer Clinic, Everett, WA (mural sized painting)

Prentiss Hall lobby, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA (two paintings)

Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver,BC (print for every room of remodeled hotel)

Marysville, WA Public Library (painting)

Cascade Valley Hospital, Arlignton, WA (mural sized painting)

Group Health Facility, Redmond, WA (3 mural sized prints for lobby)

Sherman Hospital, Elgin, IL (2 large photographs)

Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, NYC (large print)

Millburn Ridgefield Corporation, Greenwich, CT (painting)

St. Anthony Hospital, Denver, CO (2 paintings for children's wing)

Agua Caliente Hotel, Desert Hot Springs, CA (lmural sized painting for lobby)

Awards

1999 – Art by the Bay, Camano Island, WA. First Prize for Mixed Media, Bezalel-Levy

2004 – Art Port Townsend, Port Townsend, WA, People’s Choice Award, Bezalel-Levy

2004 – Sequim Juried Art Show, Sequim, WA, Award for best landscape

2004 , 2005, 2006, 2007 – Stanwood Camano Arts Guild Spring Show – First Prize for sculpture, Yonnah Ben Levy

2008 - Best of show at AAUW (American Assoc. of University Women annual exhibit) painting, Bezalel-Levy

Memberships

Camano Arts Association (charter members)

Stanwood Camano Arts Guild (from 1998)

Washington Potters Association (from 2000)

Cascade Clay Artists (from 2004)

Ashkelon Artists Association (1991-1997)

NCECA National Council of Educators in the Ceramic Arts (from 2006)

Publications

Woman of Valour, A Handbook (1995), illustrated by Bezalel-Levy

Songs from the Territories (2000), Chaim Bez`alel

Pottery Making Illustrated (May 2003 issue), Yonnah Ben Levy