Mussar As a Generative Practice for Art and Poetry

Wednesday, February 14, 21, 28 and March 6, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$180 for four sessions

Mussar is a spiritual practice based on centuries-old teachings and texts which we still find valuable today. Its wholehearted approach to leading an ethical life is inspiring and creative. As a Mussar learner, Cathleen Cohen uses poetry and visual art to deepen an understanding of Torah, mitzvot and spirituality through encounters with others. In this 4-week Immersion, you are invited to use writing and visual artmaking to touch on Mussar themes like middot (character traits) and heshbon ha’nefesh, (“accounting of the soul”), and open a conversation between yourselves and the characteristics you aspire to master. No prior experience writing poetry, creating visual art or studying Mussar is needed!

All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Cathleen Cohen was the 2019 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, PA. A painter and teacher, she founded the We the Poets program at ArtWell, an arts education non-profit in Philadelphia. Her poems appear in journals such as Apiary, Baltimore Review, Cagibi, East Coast Ink, 6ix, North of Oxford, One Art, Passager, Philadelphia Stories, Rockvale Review and Rogue Agent. Camera Obscura (chapbook, Moonstone Press), appeared in 2017 and Etching the Ghost (Atmosphere Press) in 2021. She received the Interfaith Relations Award from the Montgomery County PA Human Rights Commission and the Public Service Award from National Association of Poetry Therapy. Her paintings are on view at Cerulean Arts Gallery (ceruleanarts.com).