All of the art adorning the Kiddush/Social Hall, ten paintings, at Congregation Machane Chodosh are hers. She created two murals on the shul’s sukkah walls.
She created and donated her art as gifts for the Sisterhood events and the shul’s dinners. And she does it for free.
Iris Goldberg is the unofficial in-house artist at the shul. She does it for the love for the shul she first visited with her husband, Irving, in 2010. He passed away in June 2017 after 38 years of marriage.
“When we got there, I just felt this was it.” The warmth and welcoming attitude of Machane Chodosh reminded Iris of the shul she in which she grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Rabbi and Rebbetzin Mendelson are “welcoming. They’re intelligent. And I love their children.” Many of the Mendelsons’ children took Iris’ art classes at the synagogue.
Iris created and gave about ten paintings for the Mendelson family’s home. Some are actual portraits, and some are Iris’ interpretations of the Mendelson family. Iris’ portraits hang in Mendelsons’ children’s rooms. Others are still-life paintings (flowers, vases, etc.). “We just love everything. Gorgeous,” said Rebbetzin Mendelson.
At the age of three, Iris’ parents “recognized that I had some kinds of powers.” They bought a blackboard and colored chalk. “I used to draw on it all day.”
Her formal education began at New York University and at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Applied Science. She took Liberal Arts and Fine Arts courses.
“I learned about all the great art masters, and I tried to use the knowledge of that and develop my own techniques in art, in painting, using what I learned from them, studying their work.”
Impressionism was the art movement she loved most in school. For the art inside the Machane Chodosh building, Iris created drip acrylic paintings similar to the styles Jackson Pollock pioneered with Abstract Expressionism. “That’s the kind of feeling people get when they look at my work. I think it’s much more refined.”
Iris started working for a company in Brooklyn and then worked in the Garment District of Manhattan. She had her own company for 20 years with three employees. Iris made floral dresses, pants, blouses, and children’s outfits by hand. “Every day was a joy, getting up and going to work.” Iris had to close her company “because everything went over to China.”
Iris gave art classes to children and adults for about three years at the Central Queens Y (now Commonpoint Queens). Rabbi and Rebbetzin Mendelson first met Iris Goldberg 15 years ago when Iris was an art teacher there. Iris created a Tu BiSh’vat fruit picture for the children to imitate at the Mendelsons’ Chabad Hebrew School.
Iris “was very generous,” refused to accept money, and is also humble, said Rebbetzin Mendelson. “She helps bring people together, and it cultivates friendship,” said the Rebbetzin.
“She has hosted multiple paint parties to teach the participants to create their own masterpieces with her guidance,” said Rebbetzin Mushky Mendelson.
Rabbi Yossi Mendelson said, Iris “invites people to discover their own creative spirit.” She is “always thinking of new and innovative ways to celebrate Yiddishkeit in her role as the president of the Sisterhood.” Iris is also on the shul’s Executive Board. She brings “care, nurture, and community into the shul,” said the Rabbi.
“Art is my life,” said Iris. “I just want to give people an opportunity to express themselves. The last (Sisterhood) class was in August 2023. “People were so happy. They felt accomplished after they did it.”
One woman never in her life held an art brush in her hand. “And she did very well. I get a lot of nachas, so to speak, when they are happy and they enjoy what they have done.”
“I think I am a very well-adjusted, happy person, and I think a lot of it is due to my art. Also, being involved in the shul gives me a lot of happiness. I mean, I love it,” said Iris.
Iris’ next painting party is on Sunday, November 19, at 2 p.m. at Machane Chodosh. The theme will be the fall season. It’s open to everyone.
By David Schneier
