CLEVELAND, OH.- The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), in partnership with the Jewish Museum, New York, presents Furnishing American Synagogues: Jewish Ceremonial Art, a new installation of Jewish ritual objects on view in two of the museum’s permanent collection galleries from November 1, 2026, through October 24, 2027. In observance of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, these loans feature Jewish ritual objects used in synagogues and daily life in the United States since its founding. The works range from an early 1900s silver Torah crown, or an adornment for a closed Torah scroll, to contemporary mixed-media works such as an alms (donation) container. A monumental Torah ark from a synagogue in Sioux City, Iowa, carved in 1899 by a Jewish immigrant, offers a striking example of the history of Jewish life and artistic expression in the United States.

The third installation of Jewish ceremonial art from the Jewish Museum at the CMA, Furnishing American Synagogues builds on the long-standing relationship between the CMA Director, William Griswold, and James Snyder, director of the Jewish Museum, New York. This relationship paved the way for the Jewish Museum, New York, and the CMA to form a shared interest in expanding the representation of Jewish art and Jewish cultural history in the broader artistic, geographic, and faith tradition contexts in which it developed.

Following work from earlier in the decade, the CMA launched its Jewish Arts Initiative in 2024 to advance this commitment through exhibitions, acquisitions, research, and public engagement. In 2024, a striking Etrog Box by Ilya Schor (American, b. Galicia [now Ukraine], 1904–1961) became the museum’s first intentional acquisition of Jewish ceremonial art. Prior to this, several newly identified artworks by the CMA curators as Jewish ceremonial art or made by Jewish artists––as well as key loans from international museums and Congregation Mishkan Or, a local synagogue––were featured in the exhibitions Stories from Storage (2021); Africa & Byzantium (2024); Arts of the Maghreb: North African Textiles and Jewelry (2024–25); In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth) (2025–26); and in a permanent collection gallery as a long-term loan.

Furnishing American Synagogues: Jewish Ceremonial Art is on view November 1, 2026, through October 24, 2027, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, in the Cleveland Foundation Gallery and the Betty and Max Ratner Gallery (galleries 208 and 224A).