The COJECO BluePrint Fellowship
2018-2019
Inheritance, an Immersive Installation
“Inheritance” is an interactive exhibit and live performance presented by The Inheritance Project, a storytelling platform that asks, “How much of our identity do we inherit?” Artist Katya Stepanov explores the impact of her own inheritance in an immersive exhibition of photographs and interviews with her family and extended community. “Inheritance” immerses visitors in the […]
JEvents NY & NJ
JEvents will collect Jewish events, programs and places in a single user-friendly mobile app with the goal of connecting Jewish communities to each other. JEvents NY & NJ will build on the successful model that has been working in Russia since 2014.
Le Grand Voyage
The project will focus on the creation of a theatrical piece about immigration with a Clown troupe. Clown form is a perfect way to express complex life experiences and will become an engaging performance to adults and children alike.
Letter to God – A Staged Reading
An English language adaptation of a theater play by a Jewish-Ukrainian playwright Anatoli Krim, that will begin with a staged reading with a goal of a full staged play.
Songs of Our Journey
Songs of Our Journey is a live presentation of music that has survived in diaspora and carries with it the stories of struggles and triumphs. We are taken through different geographical regions and various times in history exploring different themes and sounds. The purpose of this project is to unite people in the Jewish diaspora […]
The Mountain Jews Cuisine: a cookbook
The cuisine of the Mountain Jews of the Caucasus is as rich and savory as their long history that preserves their unique culture and customs. This project seeks to introduce the history of Mountain Jews of the Caucasus through the gastronomical senses. The event will introduce the wider Jewish community to our history through food. […]
The Mountain Jews Cuisine: a cookbook
The cuisine of the Mountain Jews of the Caucasus is as rich and savory as their long history that preserves their unique culture and customs. This project seeks to introduce the history of Mountain Jews of the Caucasus through the gastronomical senses. The event will introduce the wider Jewish community to our history through food. […]
The Wanderings of Vera, or Live Souls
A coming-of-age novel about immigration, finding and losing faith, loss, friendship, guilt, family, the American Dream, the wonderful, complicated, close-knit ultra-Orthodox community, and the other communities and connections we find along the way.
This Side of the Sea
An animated film that will connect multiple generations through their stories, using multiple animated mediums and incorporating traditional Jewish and Russian art motifs as well as real life anecdotes and family stories. “A young woman struggles with understanding her inherited fears, and moving through urban America as a Jew, as current events threaten to drown […]
Бабушка – BAb(oo)shka
Бабушка | BAb(oo)shka is a performance and series of community workshops about translation between languages, generations, and borders. A performance that retells, reenacts, and represents the experience of being a Jew in the Soviet Union. It is a collage of three overlapping translations, with a live Klezmer Yiddish band and large two-dimensional puppets.
Школа Пэна (Art School of Yehuda Pen)
A series of art workshops for children, exploring the wisdom of Jewish texts and art. Collective artwork created will have a purpose of moving towards peace, conflict resolution, empathy and reconciliation.
Ilona is originally from Moscow. Her most pleasant childhood memories are associated with visiting her grandparents in Georgia. In the United States Ilona studied English, Graphic Design and Fine Arts. She worked as a Graphic Designer in children's publishing. In recent years Ilona has been organizing community projects for kids and composing Jewish songs in Russian to the guitar. She is also known for baking delicious Challah. Ilona currently works in nursery schools where she teaches art, substitute teaches and babysits.
