Women of the Shoah Collaborative
The collaborative partners with communities to activate the site of the monument “She Wouldn’t Take off Her Boots” through interdisciplinary placemaking initiatives. By approaching Holocaust education through the lens of socially engaged art, the collaborative introduces innovative methods to the field.
Women of the Shoah Collaborative
Curated by the Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum
The Women of the Shoah Collaborative curates and produces interdisciplinary placemaking initiatives at the monument "She Wouldn't Take off Her Boots." These public programs are designed in collaboration with diverse communities across our region. By integrating socially engaged art with the stories and themes represented by the monument, the site becomes more active, generative, and accessible to a broader audience.
The Women of the Shoah Collaborative also functions as a think tank and research hub, generating innovative and dynamic approaches to integrating Holocaust Engagement with the arts through ongoing research and programmatic initiatives. These alternative approaches to Holocaust Engagement become available as a resource to other educators, artists, and institutions within this field.
What is Social Practice?
Social Practice is an art movement that gained prominence in the early 21st century which emphasizes collaborative and participatory approaches to address social issues. Artists in this movement engage directly with communities, creating interactive projects that prioritize collective action over traditional art objects. The GCJM will draw from this art movement’s canon to develop Holocaust-themed placemaking initiatives for the Women of the Shoah Collaborative.
The Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum
The Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum (GCJM), is both an artist-run institution and an artwork in itself. They center contemporary Jewish identity and education, cultural production, and artistic research through the lens and practice of social engagement and the lived Southern Jewish experience. Their programs, artists, and community collaborators aim to deepen and expand the practice of Judaism today. Their work converges at the nexus of contemporary art practice and Southern Jewish life leaving everything open for interpretation, experimentation and exploration with the goal of personalizing, through art and social practice, the meaning of “Jew”ish in today’s Diasporic world while exploring what can serve as an emerging model of a 21st century contemporary Jewish museum in the United States.
Learn more at https://www.greensborocjm.org/
Projects
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Alternative Tours
A diverse group of local community members with varying backgrounds and perspectives are invited to design guided tours of the Holocaust memorial monument "She Wouldn't Take off Her Boots." These tours offer unique and creative perspectives on the history the monument represents. Whether designed by historians, artists, teenagers, or poets, a diverse array of viewpoints is presented to the audience.
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Sounds of the Shoah
Local musicians are invited to compose compositions inspired by the women of Liepaja that are performed on-site at the monument. This program will be occuring during the NC Folk Festival and is headlined by Russell Kaback who will perform 25044 on-site at the monument, a musical story of the life of his grandfather Szyjek Magier who as a Polish Jewish teenager spent four years in the Nazi labor and concentration camps.
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Women of the Shoah Book Project
Participants gather at the “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots” memorial monument to hear from artist Victoria Milstein about themes inherent in the work including trauma, resilience, resistance, and more. Participants then walk over to the Greensboro Public Library and individually or in pairs explore the libraries collection and locate books relevant to these themes. These books will then be on a special display with information about and a map to the nearby monument and available for download on our website.
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Women of the Shoah Information Booth
A mobile information booth is periodically e set-up in LeBauer Park and staffed by a variety of people including a WWII historian, a 10 year old Jewish child, a Jewish grandmother, a Civil Rights activist, the artist Victoria Milstein, a NC resident from Latvia, a museum curator, and more. History and art is about perspective. By learning about the ‘She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots’ memorial monument and the history it represents by a variety of diverse voices, guest to the information booth gleam a much larger story about the layers and complexities of trauma, triumph, and resilience.
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Art-In-Arm Exhibition
“She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots” is based on a photograph taken by Nazi soldiers. Artist Victoria Milstein describes re-claiming this image as a form of re- sistance. During the development of the project, Milstein took dozens of photos of women linked arm in arm, assuming the same pose as the women in Leipaja. In Spring 2025, these mages will be installed on-site at the monument. Periodically throughout the exhibition, a photo booth will be present so anyone can contribute to the project by taking the pose themselves.
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Anti-Semitism Walking Practice
Jewish participants are invited to gather at the “She Wouldn’t Take off her Boots” memorial monument and then walk in-pairs around Downtown Greensboro to share their personal experiences with antisemitism. By having private conversations in public spaces, participants can challenge the vulnerability often felt by Jews who experience antisemitism. After the walk, participants gather back at the monument to collectively share their reflections.
Research Projects & Findings
Essays, articles, and publications about the Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum and Women of the Shoah’s efforts to merge Holocaust engagement with socially engaged art. These resources allow the Collaborative to be generative in nature through contributing to the larger field of the arts and Holocaust engagement.
Coming Soon…
Upcoming Placemaking Events.
Let’s Collaborate.
The Women of the Shoah Collaborative enacts innovative projects in collaboration with communities and individuals. Have an idea for a public or educational program? We are interested! Are you an artist who feels as though they can contribute their craft to the stories and lessons the monument represents? Reach out! Have questions about one of our initiatives? Let us know!
