Art Gallery

About the Zinn Family Boardroom / Art Gallery

The Edith and Robert Zinn Family Art Gallery is a non-profit exhibition and education space created to promote awareness, appreciation and interest in visual arts that reflects the diversity of the Jewish people.

Life in Color

Artist: Avis Neiman

Dates: May 9 – June 6

In the colorful, familiar worlds of Avis Neiman’s paintings — a garden path, a family visit to Israel, a bowl of fruit on a sunlit table — we glimpse a life lived with deep affection for the everyday. With a whimsical hand reminiscent of Matisse and Monet, Avis transforms familiar scenes into joyful celebrations of color, memory and love.

Avis’s relationship to art began early. Born in Chicago in 1942, she grew up in a home alive with creativity, inspired by her father, an artist who filled everyday life with beauty. As a young girl, Avis would ride the train by herself on weekends to the Art Institute of Chicago, eagerly pursuing painting classes that sparked a lifelong devotion to the craft. She later earned degrees in both art and English at the University of Chicago, blending a love of making art with a deep curiosity about its stories and history.

In 2018, Avis and her husband Abraham moved to Houston to be closer to their family. Today, they are beloved members of our JCC community, regularly attending senior lunches and exercise classes. Avis also participates in our adult acrylic painting program, where she is known for her infectious enthusiasm — always the first to share encouragement, to remind everyone why art matters.

Throughout her life, Avis has shared her love of art with those around her: decorating her home for Jewish holidays with creativity and care, lecturing on art history at community centers, and above all, painting for the joy it brings to herself and her family.

We are honored to share the work of Avis Neiman — a celebration of art as a way of living, loving, and finding beauty in the everyday.