Please register HERE.

Join us for the first of three standalone talks (additional sessions on Jan. 8, 2026 on Ben Shahn and the Art of Hebrew Calligraphy and Feb. 26, 2026 on Hebrew Calligraphy and Letter Arts Today: Tattoos, Type, and Graffiti) on the calligraphy and mysticism of the Hebrew alphabet. No knowledge of Hebrew language required.

This Jewish Art Education program on The Art of Ancient Hebrew Letters: Manuscripts, Mysticism, and Monsters led by Prof. Joanna Homrighausen will look at Hebrew calligraphy in the ancient and medieval worlds. We will look at the origins of Hebrew writing, as well as medieval manuscripts adorned with gold and strange images of monsters.

Joanna Homrighausen writes and teaches at the intersection of sacred text, lettering arts, and scribal crafts. Having earned her PhD in Religion (Hebrew Bible) at Duke University, she teaches Religious Studies at the College of William & Mary, where she has taught the biblical Hebrew sequence, the history of ancient Israel, and first-year writing seminars.