Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation

The foundation's stated purpose was to nurture talented Israeli artists and creators, develop a group of leading Israeli cultural figures working at the highest level, and place them on the international cultural stage.[1] It supported the development and expansion of selected artists' careers both within Israel and abroad.[1]

Its activities were financed by private individuals, companies, and foundations in Israel and overseas that supported cultural excellence in Israel.[1] The foundation also used an international network of people and organizations to promote selected Israeli creators and integrate their work into the international cultural community.[1]

Rachel Marani, formerly Israel's cultural attaché in Washington, founded the foundation, which began operating in Israel in 2002.[1] The available report does not specify whether its legal establishment occurred in that year or earlier.

Artists were evaluated by figures associated with their creative disciplines. In 2005, for example, Rutu Modan was selected in the visual-communications field by a panel consisting of Israel Prize-winning designer David Tartakover, illustrator Merav Salomon, and designer Adi Stern. The report identified all three panel members as artists from the foundation's first cohort.[1]

At the core of the foundation's model was a personalized approach: its advisers developed an individual action plan with each selected artist rather than applying a uniform program.[1] Plans could include professional-development programs, international fairs and conferences, and seminars or workshops on strategic planning, business thinking, and broader enrichment.[1]

In 2005, the foundation's selected artists included Israeli-music artists Din Din Aviv and Shlomi Shaban; classical musicians Gil Shohat, Yaron Gottfried, Lior Navok, and Dan Ettinger; theater artist Avishai Hadari and the Klipa Theater; product designer Tal Gur; visual-communications artist Adi Stern; jazz musicians Eli Degibri and Avishai Cohen; visual artists Gal Weinstein, Zoya Cherkassky, Yehudit Sasportas, and Ohad Meromi; dancer Yasmin Goder; and fashion designer Mirit Weinstock.[1] Rachel Marani said the foundation expected to select seven additional Israeli artists from different creative fields during the following year.[1]

Illustrator Rutu Modan's individualized 2005 plan combined participation in international professional-development programs, fairs, and conferences with foundation-wide seminars and workshops on strategic planning and business thinking.[1] Soprano Keren Hadar was identified in a 2015 cultural profile as a selected foundation artist for 2008; the profile also stated that she won the Rheinsberg opera-singing competition in Germany in 2007 and had released four CDs by 2015.[2]

The foundation's 2005 roster crossed popular and classical music, theater, design, jazz, visual art, dance, and fashion, reflecting an effort to build a multidisciplinary group rather than support a single art form.[1] The report described its ambition metaphorically as creating an “arsenal” of Israeli cultural leaders at the highest level and placing them on the international stage.[1]

Its combination of artist-specific planning and international networking was intended to help Israeli creators develop careers at home while entering wider professional and cultural circles abroad.[1]

The America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF) is a differently named arts-support organization described in a reference entry on Israeli Americans. The entry says AICF encouraged cultural excellence in Israel through scholarships in music, visual and design arts, filmmaking, dance, and theater; advanced-study fellowships for teachers and young professionals; and grants to institutions and special projects.[3] It reported that AICF allocated approximately $2.3 million to more than 600 scholarships, projects, and institutions, and listed the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Jerusalem Film and Television School, Batsheva Dance Company, and Beit Zvi School of Drama among the bodies it sponsored.[3]

The sources identify different names, programs, and leadership for the two foundations: Rachel Marani is associated with the foundation covered in this article, while the AICF entry lists Kathleen Mellon as its executive director.[1][3] The organizations should therefore not be conflated.