$50 million landmark Jerusalem campus for the arts officially opens in downtown Jerusalem

Jerusalem — UJA-Federation of New York, in partnership with the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation and Eden – Jerusalem Economic Development Company, officially opened the $50 million, state-of-the-art Jerusalem Campus for the Arts in downtown Jerusalem on Nov. 3, 2022.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, MK Nir Barkat and Minister of Culture and Sports Hili Tropper joined Eric S. Goldstein, CEO, UJA-Federation of New York; the Kirsh family; Robert R. and Sherry H. Wiener; Aharon Feuerstein, director, Nissan Nativ Acting Studio; Maya Levy, director, School of Visual Theatre; Dr. Avi Shoshani, founder and director, School of Middle Eastern Classical Music; Dana Blankstein Cohen, executive director, Sam Spiegel Film & Television School; and more than 100 distinguished guests from New York and Israel for the ribbon cutting at the official grand opening ceremony.

The Jerusalem Campus for the Arts, unprecedented in its nature, unites four premier performing arts schools on one breathtaking, modern campus — creating a new cultural and economic engine in Jerusalem that will attract young arts students and professionals from diverse backgrounds to the city, generating economic growth and fostering pluralism in the Jewish capital.

Spanning nearly 2.5 acres and centrally located on Bezalel Street, the campus comprises three main buildings housing four of Jerusalem’s leading performing arts schools — Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Center for Middle Eastern Classical Music, Nissan Nativ Acting Studio and School of Visual Theatre — which were previously spread throughout the city, forming a network of artists in one physical location to meet, collaborate and create. The campus will enable a large increase in enrollment at the schools, from accommodating several hundred students to thousands of students going forward. The current 2022-2023 school year will be the first full school year for each school.

The campus features several indoor and outdoor spaces that will be used for performances, workshops and other events for the public. Events will kick off over the next several months.

“UJA-Federation is honored to partner with the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation, Eden and all the generous donors who helped make this momentous project a reality,” said Eric S. Goldstein, UJA CEO. “Our shared vision for the Jerusalem Campus for the Arts is that it anchors a cultural and economic renaissance for the city, encouraging young, diverse families to settle in the area, revitalizing the city and promoting an inclusive society.”

“We are proud to be involved in the creation of this landmark cultural center in the heart of Jerusalem,” said Robert R. Wiener on behalf of himself and his wife, Sherry.

“With the Jerusalem Campus for the Arts, we are putting the historically unmatched Jerusalem back on the radar as a magnet for students from all backgrounds to study at some of the finest arts schools in the world,” said Mayor Lion. “The campus will drive new educational and business and tourism opportunities, promoting inclusivity and attracting new, diverse crowds to this great city.”

“The new, amazing, high-end campus will help entice the best students to come study in Jerusalem,” said Aharon Feuerstein of the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio. “It will be a platform for new, dynamic creatives that will help Jerusalem become the significant cultural center it should be. The campus will enhance connections between the students of all four schools to create the fabric of a powerful community of young artists.”

UJA has contributed more than $17.5 million to the Jerusalem Campus for the Arts through generous gifts from lead donor, the Kirsh Foundation, and the Paulson Family Foundation, Amy A.B. and Robert I. Bressman, Robert R. and Sherry H. Wiener, and the Iranian American Jewish Federation of New York.

The campus was designed by Efrat- Kowalsky Architects.

UJA-Federation of New York announced its support of the project in 2017 as part of its centennial year celebration. It was part of former Mayor Nir Barkat’s vision to make Jerusalem appealing to young people and young families.