Curriculum Vitae
Bezalel-Levy is the combined signature of Chaim Bezalel and Yonnah Ben Levy. We collaborate on mixed media paintings and ceramics combining photography and other media 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 rans a ceramics program for ten years. 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 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 developed a workshop called “Telling Your Story Through Art” which he led at Josephine Sunset Retirement home in Stanwood.
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. Stanwood House now
concentrates on the work of Bezalel-Levy and also serves as a
teaching facility.
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”
2009 – “Pacific Scrolls” at Moses Lake Museum, Washington,
2009 - Still Life exhibit at Knudson Family Theater Gallery in Federal Way, Washington
2010 – Mixed and mult-media exhibit at Los Gatos JCC, “The Twelve Tribes”
2008-2010 – Pacific Scrolls at Mt. Hood College, OR; Lower Columbia College, WA; Peninsula College, WA
2012 - “Oasis” work from the desert at Moses Lake Museum, WA
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
2002-2010 - 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 - “The Art Faculty” - juried show 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 original photographs by Chaim Bezalel)
St. Anthony Hospital,Denver, CO (2 paintings for children's wing)
Group Health, Redmond, WA
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, NYC (large print)
Millburn Ridgefield Corporation, Greenwich, CT (original painting)
Agua Caliente Hotel, Desert Hot Springs, CA (mural for lobby)
Enumclaw Regional Hospital, Enumclaw, WA (photograph)
Sterling National Bank, NYC (3 panoramic prints)
Richards, Kibbe, & Orbe, World Financial Ctr., NYC (original and prints)
Snohomish County Courthouse, Everett, WA (large painting)
VA Hospital, Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA (original painting and print)
Cascade Skagit Valley Alliance, Smokey Point, WA (large painting)
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 Bezalel
Pottery Making Illustrated (May 2003 issue), Yonnah Ben Levy
Participated in 3 CD's by the South End String Band
CD, “Man Overboard” original songs by Chaim & the Essentials
Bellingham Review, photograph by Chaim Bezalel
Voices Israel, poem by Chaim Bezalel