Shainberg Art Gallery
Gallery Hours
Monday-Thursday 8am–8:15pm
Sunday 8am–5:45pm
Gallery Exhibits
"Bloom" by Sophie Samuels
In the Gallery: March 2–27
Artist Reception: Sunday, March 8, from 3:00–4:30pm
This collection of mixed media florals feels like a joyful garden party in full bloom. Thick, layered textures bring the flowers to life, creating paintings that feel lively, playful, and full of personality. Each piece invites you to slow down, smile, and wander through the celebration of color and texture.
Sophie is a mixed media artist who has been drawn to art for as long as she can remember. This exhibition feels full circle for Sophie—she grew up attending art camp at the JCC and still has pottery pieces she made years ago in the pottery room. Now teaching art in the JCC’s Early Childhood Center, she is excited to share her colorful, whimsical, texture-driven work with the community that helped shape her creative path. Sophie lives and works in Memphis, TN, where she creates from her home studio while balancing life as a mother of two with the support of her husband, Alex.
TN Crafts Southwest
In the Gallery: March 30–April 24
Artists’ Reception: April 12 • 1:00–3:00pm
11th edition • Description coming soon! Please check back.
Contemporary Art Museum Memphis (CAM) Seniors: Class of 2026
Opening Reception: April 30 • 6:00–8:00pm
In the Gallery: April 30–May 22
Past Events
Celebrating 100 Years: Hebrew Watchman
Journey Through the Decades: The Legacy of the Hebrew Watchman
Please join us as we celebrate 100 years of Memphis Jewish Journalism and honor the Goldberger family whose vision continues to thrive in the 21st Century
Bullying Exhibition
Original student work submitted as part of the Memphis Jewish Community Center’s National Bullying Prevention Month programming. This event was part of our National Bullying Prevention Month programming.
Art of the Game: Irvin Serenco and The Mid-South Cartoonist Association
Irvin Serenco’s workshop is quiet now, but for 50 years he built a legacy of unique wood creations that have adorned his and his family’s homes.
Irvin was born on September 1, 1935, and lived in Memphis from his teen years until his death December 12, 2023. He developed a love for working with his hands at a young age. What started as a simple hobby grew into a lifelong passion for transforming wood into beautiful works of art., including creative bird houses, a bridge, a backyard gazebo, and unique pieces of “furniture art” like the ones being showcased in this exhibit. His art was always a surprise to his wife, Deanna, and enhances their home still, inside and out.
His passion has also always been serving the Memphis Jewish community. Irvin served as president of the Memphis Jewish Community Center, as well as on many and various committees for 40 years. He and Deanna established a fund to assist participants in the MJCC Senior Lunch Program. They also funded the Infant Center at the MJCC, which bears their name in the school lobby, and funded improvements to the sound system in the renovated theater to make it more accessible to hearing impaired individuals. His children have continued the Serenco’s legacy of love for the MJCC with a donation in their name to fund renovations and improvements to the fence on the MJCC school playground.
Irvin Serenco’s life is now reflected in his woodwork and his and his family’s enduring generosity and devotion to the Memphis Jewish Community Center.
The Mid-South Cartoonists Association (MSCA) is a non-profit organization promoting Cartoons as Art since 1987, comprised of professional cartoonists, aspiring cartoonists, and cartooning enthusiasts.
This collaborative art of members of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association is presented in multimedia, whimsically themed to games and gaming to accentuate the sculptural art of Irvin Serenco.
"Recent Paintings" by George Bougher
A good painting is a poetic psychodrama. I have a reverence for life and for painting; however, I don’t paint life but try to put life in painting. Painting for me is a process, not an event. It is visual poetry that goes beyond what I know—into the world of feelings, instincts and drives. Painting is a gift—not a talent—and learning to nurture and protect this gift has been my cherished duty.
Interested in showing your work in the Shainberg Art Gallery?
Questions? Contact Jonathan McCarter, Program Director for Cultural Arts, at jmccarter@jccmemphis.org or (901) 259-9248.