MISSION STATEMENT
The Lost Mural Project preserves and interprets a rare and important example of early 20th century Jewish Art (“The Lost Mural”) painted by an immigrant for a Vermont immigrant community, and uses this singular and powerful artifact to explore the contributions of indigenous and immigrant communities which have created Vermont’s broad cultural heritage.
Education
Lost Mural Project founders and advisors are available to speak before public and private groups about the Lost Mural Project.
The following links are a small sampling of prior articles, interviews and lectures about the Lost Mural Project. Enjoy!!
Jewish Heritage Europe: August 18, 2013
First lecture, November 9, 2013: “Chai Adam Mural: A Precious Link Between Old World and New” - Samuel D. Gruber, Ph. D.
Second lecture, November 10, 2013:“Rampant Lions & the Law Revealed: The Chai Adam Mural and the Intersection of Art, Memory and History” - Samuel D. Gruber, Ph.D.
“Burlington’s Little Jerusalem” - Vermont Public Television - January 01, 2014
The New York Times, January 24, 2014
National Public Radio airs Jon Kalish's story about Lost Mural Project, April 29, 2014: featuring co-chairs Aaron Goldberg and Jeff Potash as well as our conservator and other experts.
Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 104 (Tuesday) July 7, 2015
[Senate][Pages S4681-S4682] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
Seven Days, Lost Mural Unveiled. Aug 3, 2015 - The mural that was recently unveiled to the public at Burlington’s Ohavi Zedek Synagogue has been celebrated, forgotten, rediscovered, restored and transported, but, despite its 100-plus years, has not lost its ability to impress
'Lost Mural' Brought Back Into The Light After 30 Years | Vermont Public - August 14, 2015
Times of Israel: Published May 9, 2016: In epic save, Vermont Jews rescue neglected ‘Lost Shul Mural’
Zoom Event, Lost Mural Conservation at Jewish Study Center, Washington, DC July 4, 2020. Richard Kerschner, Coordinating Conservator, “The Conservation of the Lost Mural”
CCTV-TV, Burlington, VT Channel 17, “Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States Visits the Lost Mural,” August 20, 2021 (Length of Program 00:33:18) (Remarks by the Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States, Audra Plepytė with Honorable Madeleine M. Kunin, former Vermont Governor & Ambassador to Switzerland, along with Coordinating Conservator Richard Kerschner, Senior Conservator Constance Silver and Lost Mural Project Co-Founder Aaron J. Goldberg.)
Zoom Event, “Lost Mural Project Conservation Update,” August 2, 2021. Richard Kerschner, Conservation Coordinator
Vermont Historical Society Television Program. (History Interview) January 28,2021. “This Place in History: The Lost Mural” Part 1. Exploring the history of the Lost Mural at Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington for “This Place in History.”
Vermont Historical Society Television Program (Conservation Interview) February 4, 2021. Part 2, "This Place in History, Lost Mural Project,"
Seven Days, June 22, 2022. “Burlington’s ‘Lost Mural’ Is Restored to its Original Glory”
The purpose of the Corporation is the restoration, preservation and interpretation of the Lost Shul Mural, also known as the Lost Mural. The Corporation is an approved charitable and secular not-for-profit entity under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and as amended formed for the following purposes:
To plan for and aid in the restoration, preservation and interpretation of the Lost Shul Mural, located at 188 North Prospect St., Burlington, VT;
To complete an educational initiative to discuss the legacy of the mural as a unique “survivor” of a Jewish art style once pervasive across rural Eastern European shtetls;
To explain the stabilization, conservation and preservation process of the Lost Shul Mural;
To tell the story of the artist and the local synagogue where the mural was painted;
To interpret the American immigrant communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries;
To illustrate the history as a powerful reminder of Burlington, Vermont’s “Little Jerusalem”;
To develop materials about the larger contributions of immigrant groups in the 19th and 20thcentury development of Burlington;
To share educational materials as the Board of the corporation determines is appropriate.