In 1991, The Skirball Museum Cincinnati opened in the newly renovated Mayerson Hall, presenting its core exhibit An Eternal People: The Jewish Experience, comprised of seven thematic galleries that portray the cultural, historical and religious heritage of the Jewish people:

• Immigration: The history of the arrival of Jewish immigrants and their contribution to American culture and society. Features such prominent figures as Albert Einstein and actor Danny Kaye.
• Cincinnati Jewry: Highlights the impact of the Jewish community on Cincinnati with particular attention given to the establishment and contribution of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion.
• Archaeology: Items from Egypt and Palestine that focus on the life, death and religion of everyday people. The exhibit includes examples of material from the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.
• Torah: Centralized around a beautiful Torah Scroll that survived the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the Torah section illuminates the importance of the Book for ancient and modern Judaism.
• Jewish Holidays and Festivals: Illustrative artifacts related to the various holidays and life events are prominently displayed. The importance of the calendar, festivals, and events such as coming of age, and marriage, are emphasized to enhance the understanding of what it means to be Jewish in the modern world.
• Life Cycle: Artifacts related to birth, coming of age, marriage, and death enhance understanding of Jewish rites of passage and encourage conversation about life cycle rituals in other faith traditions.
• The Holocaust: Art and a remembrance wall inspire the visitor through the depiction of the atrocity of the Holocaust and the courage of the human spirit in the face of great evil.
• Israel: An artistic overview that reveals the spirit of the land, its people and its culture.

In 2015, B’nai B’rith International and HUC-JIR announced the transfer of the art and artifacts of the former B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C, for the purposes of preserving and displaying this distinctive collection of sacred and secular fine and decorative arts. The B’nai B’rith Klutznick Collection augments and enhances the Skirball’s holdings significantly, rendering it among the most prominent Jewish museums between the Alleghenies and the Rockies.

When the second intifada (an armed uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip) broke out in the fall of 2000, virtually all coexistence programs between East and West Jerusalem came to an abrupt halt. The ones who suffered most from the daily exposure to violence were the children whose after-school activities were curtailed or stopped. In that same year a unique program was developed by The Institute for the Study of Religions and Communities in Israel to bring elementary school children—Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis—together with art teachers in a setting of pleasant creativity that promoted cognitive abilities and social skills, mutual understanding and friendly relations. Through a three-year curriculum, the program was designed to give voice to the children, to offer them the opportunity to express their emotions in art, to reduce hostile feelings and restore their dreams. The more than 150 works of art in this collection are from the 2000-2003 and 2007-2010 iterations of this remarkable program and formulate a gift to the Skirball Museum from The Institute for the Study of Religions and Communities in Israel.

In April of 2018, the Skirball Museum was approached by Nancy M. Berman about her intention to make a gift of her personal collection of Israeli art to an appropriate and welcoming institution. The majority of this rich collection of works by important artists living and working in Israel throughout the twentieth century that had been amassed by Nancy’s parents, Philip and Muriel Berman.  The Cincinnati Skirball Museum was thrilled to receive ten important paintings, prints, and watercolors from this prominent collection. From folk art by Shalom of Safed to abstract landscapes by Mordecai Ardon and Marcel Janco to figural works by Dudu Gerstein and Ivan Schwebel, there is a wide range of styles to experience and narratives to explore. Whether inspired by personal spirituality, the timelessness of the land, or the pull of modernity, each of these artists achieved prominence in the history of Israeli art. We are proud to present these stellar works by some of the most important Israeli artists of the twentieth century to our community. Engage and enjoy!

Founded in 1969 by Mel Wacks at the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California, the Jewish-American Hall of Fame (JAHF) became a division of the American Jewish Historical Society in New York in 2001. In 2019, JAHF celebrated 50 years of making limited edition two-inch bronze medals that commemorate the accomplishment of Jewish-Americans in various fields, as well as to honor historic sites and events in American Jewish history. It was a moment of great pride when the JAHF advisory council chose to honor Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise as the 2019 inductee on the 200^th anniversary of his birth. Following an exhibition at the Skirball of all 50 medals in duplicate, so that the front and back of all medals could be viewed, the entire collection was gifted to the Skirball Museum by Mel and Esther Wacks, Debra Wacks, and Shari Wacks.
Learn more about the Jewish-American Hall of Fame by visiting the JAHF website HERE.

An extraordinary collaboration and close friendship between the late Rabbi David Jacobs and acclaimed artist David Holleman (1927-2020) resulted in a treasured suite of eleven stained-glass windows that graced Temple Beth El of Quincy, Massachusetts for five decades. With the merger of Temple Beth El and Temple Shalom and a relocation to Blue Hills, the leadership of Temple Beth El sought a new home for their beloved windows. Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is honored to give these beautiful windows a renewed life on our Cincinnati campus, where they will eventually be placed on view to bring light and inspiration to our community for years to come.

In 2016, world-renowned artist Mark Podwal approached the Skirball Museum with a proposal to make a set of drawings inspired by some of the outstanding examples of ritual and ceremonial Judaica in the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum Collection that had been absorbed by the Skirball the previous year. An exhibition of eighteen drawings resulted from that proposal, and they were gifted to the Skirball by the artist at the conclusion of the exhibition.

A second exhibition at the Skirball of works by Mark Podwal entitled A Collage of Customs consists of 26 prints inspired by the 1593 Venice edition of Sefer Minhagim or Book of Customs. The artist gifted the Skirball with a set of 26 signed archival pigment prints in 2021 and the exhibition was mounted at the Skirball during the spring of 2022.