The Arts Flourishing at UCLA Hillel with Perla Karney, Artistic Director Commentaries from the Edge

Hillel, on campuses across the United States and internationally, takes their place with other religious centers on college campuses, to enrich the lives of young people during their academic experience. In particular, the purpose of Hillel is to serve Jewish students at a pivotal time in their lives to foster learning about Jewish values and to promote their commitment to social justice as a lifelong cause.
At the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) what is unique is the presence of a significant art center initially endowed by the late David Dortort, a renown television producer, inspired by the former UCLA Hillel Director, Rabbi Chaim Zeidler-Feller, and continued with the support of the current Director, Rabbi Aaron Lerner. It is called the Dortort Center for Creativity and the Arts at UCLA Hillel. And it is one of a kind, with 550 Hillels around the world, it is the only campus organization with a significant commitment to the arts for inspiration and for deepening learning experiences.
Perla Karney, the Artistic Director of the Center for the last 18 years, has provided the kind of leadership and dedication that has demonstrated how a Hillel and other campus organizations can use the power of the arts in all its variety to expand the education of college students and engage the greater community as well. With her direction, painters, writers, photographers, actors as well as academic experts can bring people together in the common quest to make a better world. In the breadth of her programming for the UCLA Center both on campus and internationally, she has become a beacon of artistry as an arts administrator.
For more information, or to propose an arts project, email:
Perla@UCLAhillel.org