Monday, May 18 – Sunday, May 24, 2026
In This Sand: Seven Days of Collective Care is a weeklong series of public and private community events that will take place in the Main Gallery at OJMCHE. In This Sand invites Portland religious leaders, healers, artists, and activists to utilize Cara Levine’s exhibition Without End as a site for grief processing and embodied healing. The weeklong duration reflects the symbolic period of shiva, or seven days of mourning in the Jewish tradition.
All events are free with registration. In This Sand is presented as part of Without End: Recent Work on Grief by Cara Levine, on view through May 31, 2026.
Cara Levine’s residency is generously supported by Ruth and Gerald Cohen, in memory of Sarah Cohen-Doherty and her passion for Holocaust Education
Schedule of Events
Monday May 18, 10am – 4pm
Day 1: Silverlinings Casting Session with Cara Levine
This private artmaking session is open to people who have experienced loss due to climate disaster.
In the session, you and Cara Levine will draw a lost object of particular importance to you into the sand and then cast that drawing in pewter. Levine will make two identical castings, one for you and one for the project archive. Your casting will be sent to you after the close of the show. Each session is approximately 2 hours. Learn more and sign up here.
Tuesday May 19, 10am – 4pm
Day 2: Silverlinings Casting Session with Cara Levine
This private artmaking session is open to people who have experienced loss due to climate disaster.
In the session, you and Cara Levine will draw a lost object of particular importance to you into the sand and then cast that drawing in pewter. Levine will make two identical castings, one for you and one for the project archive. Your casting will be sent to you after the close of the show. Each session is approximately 2 hours. Learn more and sign up here.
Wednesday, May 20, 1-3pm
Day 3: The Circle is Expanding: Creating Climate Grief Poetry with Daniela Naomi Molnar
Join poet, artist, and writer Daniela Naomi Molnar for an afternoon exploring climate disaster and the unique grief it causes. This workshop will help you understand what climate grief is, why it’s important, and how it might become a creative, transformative force in your life that can bring joy, community, creativity, and greater self-awareness.
Daniela Naomi Molnar is a poet and artist who creates with color, water, language, and place. Her first book CHORUS won the 2024 Oregon Book Award for Poetry and was selected by Kazim Ali as the winner of Omnidawn Press’ 1st/2nd Book Award. Her work is the subject of a front-page feature in the Los Angeles Times, a PBS Oregon Art Beat profile, and a feature in Poetry Daily. Her next books include: PROTOCOLS (Ayin Press, 2025) and Light / Remains (Bored Wolves Press, 2026). Her work will also be included in the forthcoming Volume 2 of The Ecopoetry Anthology. Her paintings are created with pigments she has made from plants, bones, stones, rainwater and glacial melt. Poems and essays are created alongside the pigments and paintings; the practices overlap and influence each other to create new ecologies. She founded the Art + Ecology program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and helped start and run the backcountry artist residency Signal Fire.
Thursday, May 21, 9:30-11am
Day 4: What Have We Lost? Communal Conversation about Grief, Loss, and Jewish Identity Post-October 7 with Dorit Price-Levine
Join mediator Dorit Price-Levine for a facilitated conversation about the grief we are holding at this time. Situated in the gallery, this conversation will invite participants to reflect on what we have lost as individuals and as a collective since October 7. So many in the region have lost their lives, and many of us have lost aspects of our own identities.
The structure of the conversation is designed to make space for the full range of entry points to this conversation. Differences of opinion are encouraged. All voices are welcome. Registration will be capped at 15 participants.
Dorit Price-Levine is a licensed attorney-mediator and a professional facilitator, specializing in supporting people to speak effectively across their differences on polarizing and divisive topics. Trained in Transformative Mediation and Non-Violent Communication, Dorit has worked with hundreds of institutions across the country. Her clients have included national nonprofits, corporations, universities, government agencies, and communities of faith. Previously a Senior Associate at the Consensus Building Institute and Deputy Director of Resetting the Table, Dorit designs and leads communications skill-building workshops and facilitates conversations across divides. Dorit’s chosen path, promoting justice by bringing diverse groups together to explore their differences, was inspired by her experiences living for years in Palestine, Israel, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Dorit holds a JD from the UC Berkeley School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science and Near Eastern Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
Friday, May 22, 11am-12pm
Day 5: A Handful of Sand with Rabbi Sarah Rensin
This private event is for people experiencing grief due to dementia, aging and/or spousal loss. Rabbi Sarah Rensin, founder of Nehamah Jewish Chaplain Services, will lead this support group through a reflection on the passage of time spent in grief, and the power of the Kaddish to help transform solitary grief into communal comfort.
Rabbi Sarah Rensin was ordained at the Academy for Jewish Religion California in 2015 and also has a background in fine art and education. Rabbi Sarah has worked as a chaplain in hospices throughout the Pacific Northwest and leads Nehamah, an organization that provides spiritual and end-of-life care in the community. You can learn more about Rabbi Sarah Rensin and her work at Nehamah.org.
Saturday, May 23, 12-2pm
Day 6: Playing in the Sand with OK YOU
This public event is open to kids of all ages and their families. Join OK YOU for a creative exploration of grief and big emotions at the Silverlinings sandbox. Participants will leave with a kit to help them navigate these big emotions every day.
OK YOU is a nonprofit that offers free arts-based mental health projects, workshops, and resources for navigating big emotions and staying connected to our OK selves.
Sunday, May 24, 11:30am-1:30pm
Day 7: Immersive Sound Healing with The Lantern
Join artists and sound healers from The Lantern for an immersive sound-based experience in the gallery exploring themes of personal and collective grieving, healing and belonging, and connectivity and care. You will be invited to participate in a gentle, safe sound healing experience, using your own words and gestures to explore grief and regeneration.
The Lantern is an inclusive, intergenerational gathering place that offers connection, grief support, healing, and belonging.
RSVP below