Edward & Bernice Wenger Center for the Arts

Art Gallery

Marisa Scheinfeld:
The Ruins of the Borscht Belt

April 28 – June 30, 2013

For her project Leftover Borscht, photographer Marisa Scheinfeld returned to her mountainous childhood home to document Sullivan County, about 90 miles northwest of New York City. Known as the Borscht Belt. From the 1920s to the 1970s the region was a tourist haven for Jewish Americans, who were banned from resorts elsewhere.

Since its heyday, when stand-up acts like Joan Rivers, Mel Brooks, Rodney Dangerfield and Woody Allen performed, the region has experienced severe decline. Scheinfeld made repeated visits over the course of about a year to photograph the defunct vestiges of a different era.

Susan Seelig, Fine Art Director, susanseelig@gmail.com