By Molly Dubin, Curator

An engaging ceramic and mixed-media piece by Madison-based artist, Leora Saposnik, has recently been put on display in the Museum’s atrium space. The sculptural work is a milk can inspired by an improbable story.

While interred in the Warsaw Ghetto, a young historian named Emanuel Ringelblum, began an effort to collect evidence of the Nazi destruction of Polish Jewry. An assortment of materials showing the culture and vibrancy of Jewish life in Poland were hidden in containers, including three metal milk cans, and buried for safekeeping.

This thought-provoking work is a memorial for the victims who perished in the Holocaust and the survivors whose lives, families and existence were forever altered. The images adorning it and the messages inside of it tell a story about people and experiences to be remembered. The piece is also appropriately interactive, giving viewers the opportunity to share thoughts and memories by adding their voices to the story.