Staff
Co-Founders
Staff
Debbie Krivoy, Director
Shulie Seidler-Feller, Program Associate
Josh Feinberg, Educational Consultant
Kara Matthews, Bookkeeper
Adam Shaw-Vardi, Graphics & Website Support
Board of Directors
Shira Hutt
Senior Program Officer, Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
Tobi Kahn
Faculty, School of Visual Arts
Adina Savin, Esq.
Senior Vice President of Business Affairs, Disney Corporation
Abraham Seidmann
Professor, Simon School of Business, University of Rochester
Carol Brennglass Spinner
Co-Founder, Avoda Institute, Ltd.
Ruth Weisberg
Dean, Gayle Garner Roski School of Fine Arts, University of Southern California
Who we are
Carol Brennglass Spinner
Co-founder
Carol Brennglass Spinner is the co-founder of Avoda Arts. An accomplished businesswoman and committed Jewish community philanthropist, Carol serves on the boards of JESNA, National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and JCCA, and is an active member of the UJA-Federation of New York's commission on Jewish Identity and Renewal. She holds an M.S. in Educational Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. Carol is committed to creating Jewish joy.
Tobi Kahn is a painter and sculptor whose work has been shown in over 40 solo exhibitions and over 60 museum and group shows since he was selected as one of nine artists to be included in the 1985 Guggenheim Museum exhibition, New Horizons in American Art. He has more than 25 years of teaching experience in painting, sculpture, photography and art history, and is the founder of the visual arts program at Manhattan Hebrew High School. Tobi currently teaches painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Debbie Krivoy
Director
917.558.9020
e-mail Debbie
Debbie Krivoy is an educator with 20 years of experience in curriculum design, teacher-training, arts program management, and educational materials development. Under her leadership, Avoda Arts has launched the Arts Across the Curriculum initiative for middle and high school students, developed an Artist Beit Midrash for university students, sponsored a five-year traveling exhibition of Jewish ceremonial art, and co-founded the New York Jewish Student Film Festival. Prior to joining Avoda Arts, Debbie served as Director of Program Design Services for an educational consulting firm in Boston, where she oversaw the creation of workplace learning programs focused on leadership, teambuilding, mentoring, and critical thinking. Debbie holds a Master's of Education from the University of Massachusetts and has written several articles on integrating the arts into Jewish learning.
Shulie Seidler-Feller
Program Associate
917-558-9020
Shulie Seidler-Feller is a photographer and educator based in New York City. She received a BA from Reed College and an MFA from New York University in Photography and Video. She has taught photography workshops in New York and California for students and adults. Prior to her work at Avoda Arts, Shulie worked as the principal arts coordinator at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU. Her clients include the Forward, The Jewish Week, The Jerusalem Post, AJWS, Uri L'Tzedek, and Foundation for Jewish Culture, among others.
Adam is a graduate of the Thelma Yellin School of Art in Givataim, Israel. Since 1998 he has been working for two Israeli newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz, as a web-developer and graphic designer. Avoda Arts is pleased to have him on board as our resident graphics and web-design expert.
Homepage Photographs:
Community photograph courtesy of JESNA
Resources photograph courtesy of Shana Sureck
