After three years of being incubated, nourished, and supported by the JCC East Bay, LABA is shifting gears to become a Bay Area-wide program. Beginning January 2023, it will be called LABA BAY, and be a program of the Firehouse in San Francisco. LABA BAY will continue to be part of the global LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture network, which has hubs in New York, Buenos Aires, and Berlin.
The LABA fellowship will continue on as it has been for the past three years. Every year, 10 culture-makers from a variety of disciplines will be chosen as LABA fellows and come together to study ancient Jewish texts in an open-minded, non-theological, free-flowing setting and create new work in response. The work the fellows make will appear in open-to-the-public events at the Firehouse, as well as around the Bay Area at other cultural institutions. LABA looks forward to its new role as an incubator of Jewish thought and culture for the whole region, creating opportunities for its talented group of artist fellows to share their work widely.
LABA is forever grateful to the JCC East Bay. It has been a wonderful home these past few years, allowing the program to develop roots on the west coast. It looks forward to continuing to work together whenever possible, contributing to the JCC East Bay’s role as a home for innovative Jewish arts and culture.