Ethical Designs

By Sarah Kricheff June 30, 2006

You don’t need to be enrolled in art school to know that the philosophies of green design and smart design are becoming, in many circles, the only acceptable way to build anything from an apartment building to a pair of shoes. With social and environmental responsibility at the forefront of the minds of most contemporary visual thinkers, design students at schools around the world are being challenged to promote positive change in societythrough their designs. The Neri Bloomfield Wizo Academy in Israel is a perfect example. Located in the ethnically and religiously diverse city of Haifa, the academy prepares students for careers in design and education, encouraging them to be responsible cultural communicators responding to social issues facing their communities, Israel and the world. The school was founded 30 years ago by the Women’s International Zionist Organization. Today it has a multiethnic faculty and student body with some 750 students including Jews, Christians and Israeli Arabs.

Vision / Action: Designers of the Next Generation is a multi-media exhibition of works by the academy’s students and faculty. The pieces on display, which include visual and digital communications, architecture, photography, video and computerized imaging, and fashion and textile design, reflect trends in cutting-edge graphic design in Israel.

Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion Museum, Brookdale Center, 1 W. 4th St. (between Broadway and Mercer St.); through Sept. 22; Mon.-Thu. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri. 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; free. (212-824-2205 or www.huc.edu/museum/ny)

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO