JAI Arts Professionals




In an effort to better serve the Jewish Artists Initiative ( JAI ) and the Southern California arts community, we have created a Directory of JAI Arts Professionals. All bonafide members of JAI, they are variously Curators, Critics, Administrators and Scholars whose professional accomplishments are very relevant to the Jewish community. We hope this resource will be helpful to you in what ever project, exhibition or programming you are undertaking. This list of individuals is complemented by our Directory of Artists.




Sara L. Cannon
Art Curator, Academy for Jewish Religion, CA


After graduating from the University of Southern California Graduate Studies Program with a combined Master’s degree in Museum Studies and Art History, her first professional position was in the Education Department at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California. Sara moved on to work as Assistant Director and then Director of the Museum Education and Tours program at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles. She also developed the tour-guide manual and touring program for Watts Towers and trained guides.

During her career she received several education grants, including one from the National Endowment for the Arts Museum Education grant, to fund “Poetry and Art in Your Neighborhood,” a grant to fund an architecture or architect education program for homeless youth based at Hollyhock House, an AQMD grant to develop art education to teach children about air quality in their neighborhood, and various other grants for her education programs. She also received grants to produce a film on the restoration of Hollyhock House “Restoring the Romanza”, one from the American Craft Association to curate the exhibition “The Inspired Vessel.”


Sara curated numerous exhibitions at the Municipal Art Gallery and Hollyhock House and became the director of the Art Gallery at City Hall. She was president of the Museum Educators of Southern California, on the executive committee of Art Table, was on the Advisory Council of the L.A. Center for Education Research and the Skirball Museum. She has been on numerous art and education panels, has been a guest speaker for education in the arts and the development of docent programs and has written articles for the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department for arts brochures, wrote art catalogue essays and newsletters. She continues to curate exhibitions in Los Angeles and other cities and is currently the art curator for the Academy for Jewish Religion, CA.


Email: shara6081969@gmail.com




Josh Feldman


Josh believes deeply in the power each of us has to maximize our potential, creating greatness for ourselves and the world around us. He is the Director of the Institute for Jewish Creativity and Assistant Dean of the Whizin Center for Continuing Education at American Jewish University. Most recently Josh was the Director of the Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists. Prior to that, Josh was the Jeremiah Fellowship National Director for the Progressive Jewish Alliance, now known as Bend the Arc.

Josh is passionate about the intersection of art and leadership development. He is an alumnus of the Jeremiah Fellowship, Selah and ROI, and was a 2011 member of the Selah National Leadership Team. He is a trainer for PresenTense. Josh is a co-founder of East Side Jews and is an advisor to Seder2015. He is a coach trained through the Center for Nonprofit Management. He comes to his work with over ten years of non-profit and informal education experience. He holds a BFA in Performance Studies and Media Production from Emerson College. Josh lives in Echo Park with his wife, Ayana, and their two children, Lazer and Diggy.






Georgia Freedman-Harvey
Art Consultant, Curator and Collection Manager


Georgia has spent her career working in museums, in college and city galleries, and as an art consultant. Georgia has expertise in collections management, and exhibition coordination, in addition to her curatorial work. She also manages and consults with artists and collectors on how to maintain, manage and document their collections. 

She is currently the curator for the Platt/Borstein Galleries at American Jewish University. She also oversees a number of private and foundation collections, as well as the estates of artists. She speaks to artists and collectors about the legacy of their art and how to prepare it for the future. She has curated exhibitions both in the United States, Europe and Israel (fall 2015) and written a number of catalogs. Special projects include hands-on art workshops and exhibitions focused on using art for healing and transformation.

Georgia is a member of a number of arts organizations and currently serves on the executive committee of the Jewish Artists Initiative (JAI), and co-founder of the Jewish Galleries Consortium, which works to establish a cultural platform and collaboration program among institutions hosting exhibitions with a Jewish focus. 

She received her BA from Pitzer College, Claremont, California in studio art and organizational studies. She has a Masters from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her research focused on museum audiences and the impact of technology. She is a graduate of the Museum Management Institute and has studied art in England and Brazil. She continues to create artworks in fiber and paper. She is a co-collaborator on the Hamsa Project, which promotes an ongoing dialogue between artists through the exchange of artwork. Her professional memberships include ArtTable, the American Alliance of Museums, the Jewish Artists Initiative, and Surface Art Association.


Phone: (562) 230-4806




Anne Hromadka


Anne Hromadka is an independent curator and arts management consultant. Recently, she founded AMH Art Advisory. Anne is working with a select group of artists, arts non-profits and commercial galleries to increase exposure and strategically develop their goals. 

Prior to starting her consulting business, she was the Co-Director of Shulamit Gallery and was appointed Foundation Arts Administrator of the Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation in early 2012. She served as the Program Director for three years prior with the Jewish Artists Initiative of Southern California (JAI). Before JAI, Anne directed a contemporary art gallery in the Culver City arts district. Additionally, she has served as an independent consultant for Hebrew Union College-JIR, Los Angeles for over six years.

She was also the founder of Nu Art Projects; and in February 2011, she launched the Los Angeles SEDER Arts Micro-Grant, a recurring meal-based initiative that allows individuals from the community to become patrons of regional Jewish artists and to use the arts to engage Angelenos in unexpected ways. Anne was listed as a 2011 Big Jewcy and received a spot in the 2011 PresenTense (PT) Global Summit in Jerusalem due to the success of the SEDER Arts Micro-Grant. Her graduate work in Public Art Studies from the USC Roski School of Fine Arts and Hebrew Union College-JIR, LA School for Jewish Nonprofit Management, led her to envision new approaches to Jewish cultural engagement.






Donna Stein
Deputy Director, The Wende Museum of the Cold War


Donna Stein, Deputy Director of the Wende Museum of the Cold War in Culver City is also a curator and essayist. She has worked as an art historian and curator for more than 30 years, moving between Los Angeles and New York City, Europe and Asia.

She has organized exhibitions in all media, primarily on nineteenth and twentieth century art, for United States institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The National Gallery of Art and The Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., The Toledo Museum of Art, The Center for the Fine Arts in Miami, The Reading Public Museum, Guild Hall Museum of East Hampton, The Detroit Institute of Arts, The Honolulu Academy of the Arts, The Municipal Art Gallery in Los Angeles, Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts in San Francisco and The Pasadena Museum of California Art. She has also curated exhibitions throughout Asia and Europe. She has published over 100 articles and more than 40 books and catalogs related to her curatorial interests. 






Deborah Thompson
Museum Curator, Educator and Researcher


Deborah Thompson is a freelance curator, researcher, and educator with a specialty in Jewish Art and a passion for intergenerational education. Deborah earned her BA from Brandeis University in Art History and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, graduating Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with Highest Honors. Deborah’s passion for the intersection of art and Judaism led her to earn her MA in Jewish Art and Visual Culture from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), with specialty in Hebrew manuscripts and the history of the book. 

Parallel to her academic studies, Deborah trained in bookbinding, printing, and the preservation of manuscripts, books, and works on paper. She has worked with the special collections of the Brandeis University Library, JTS, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her professional experience includes working in collections management, curating, book repair, and museum education at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Jewish Museum in New York, The Met, and The Skirball Cultural Center, respectively. Currently, Deborah is developing a Catalog Raisonné for an octogenarian artist, leads private, intergenerational museum tours at museums around Los Angeles, conducts research in the area of Masorah, and is studying Hebrew calligraphy.