Today the Borscht Belt is recalled through the nostalgic lens of summer swims, Saturday night dances, and comedy performances. But its current state, like that of many other formerly glorious regions, is nothing like its earlier status. Forgotten about and exhausted, much of its structural environment has been left to decay. This illustrated lecture with the author, photographer Marisa Scheinfeld, features pictures of abandoned sites where resorts, hotels and bungalow colonies once boomed in the Catskill Mountain region of upstate New York. The images were shot inside and outside locations that once buzzed with life as year-round havens for generations of people.
In this illustrated talk on Zoom, Scheinfeld will discuss the rise, fall, and impact of the Borscht Belt along with the deeper, more layered meaning she finds in the series.
Marisa was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1980 and raised in the Catskills. She received a B.A. from the State University at Albany in 2002, and a MFA from San Diego State University in 2011. Her work is motivated by an interest in the landscape and its embedded histories, both apparent and hidden. Marisa’s photographic projects and books are among the collections of the Library of Congress, The New York Public Library, Yeshiva University Museum, The National Yiddish Book Center, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & Life at UC Berkeley, The Simon Wiesenthal Center, The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation and The Edmund and Nancy K. Dubois Library at the Museum of Photographic Arts. Ms. Scheinfeld is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Photography at SUNY Purchase and working on her second book.
LINKS TO PURCHASE THE BOOK:
The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America's Jewish Vacationland
Cornell University Press (Use the code FLYER09 and get $10.49 off the price)
Bookshop (Independent booksellers)
THIS TALK IS LIMITED TO 100 REGISTRANTS!
United States Events , New York Events , Things To Do In New
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