January 2025 Portrait of the Month — Gerard Horst Meyerfeld

Gerard Horst Meyerfeld

January’s Portrait of the Month features a beautiful drawing of Gerard Horst Meyerfeld. It was created at the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków, which teaches about and honors Jewish life in Poland before the Holocaust. It was very moving to work with students in Poland as they learned about the history of the region through the lives of the people who once lived there. View pictures from some of the workshops.

Students around the world have reflected on the experience of drawing Gerard’s portrait:

“It made me feel like I did a good deed by honoring Gerard Horst Meyerfeld by creating a pastel portrait tribute to his life.” —Kaleb H.

“It felt good to spend so much time observing a photograph and then making art based on the photo. It also took a lot of time and you have to put shadow and light, and it was like putting together puzzles.” —Shipar M.

“I got to learn a lot about [Gerard] and I was actually feeling it.” — Marlee L.