Some of you may remember Miriam Beerman, a short, slight, bright-eyed woman, who would come to Shomrei for yizkor and to say kaddish. I believe that Miriam and her family were Shomrei members. But that’s not important.

What’s important is that Miriam Beerman is an accomplished artist whose work makes a strong statement. As I was checking my email the other day, I found a message sent by my daughter Melanie, a Rhode Island School of Design Graduate. Miriam Beerman, RISD class of ’45 was being honored by with the 2015 Alumni Award for Artistic Achievement.

This got me to thinking about Miriam Beerman, the artist. If you’ve ever seen her work, you will never forget it. Many of the pieces are very large and even those that are not, show a force that belie the artist’s physical size. Vigorous brushstrokes, animals, skulls, tortured forms and faces mark her work.

Miriam taught for many years at the Montclair Art Museum which also mounted more than one solo exhibit of her works. She was a generous teacher, according to my daughter, who took a class with her while still a teenager.

Miriam’s work is in many major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran (Washington, D.C), the Jewish Museum, Victoria and Albert (London), the Whitey, Sterling (Yale University) as well as scores more.

She is the recipient of many awards, the subject of numerous articles, and a film, Expressing the Chaos, soon to be released.

According to the RISD press release Miriam Beerman “has embraced the ‘beauty and vigor’ of painting as a means of bearing witness to the injustices, atrocities and absurdities of our times. An accomplished colorist, she infuses her organic, layered canvases with a political and emotional intensity that is often balanced by moments of comic relief.”

Miriam no longer lives in Montclair but she is one of Montclair’s treasures.

Find out more about Miriam and see examples of her work at the Rhode Island School of Design Site.