WHO:

The Luna Art Fund (“LunArt”) is a private non-profit family fund, established in New York and Tel Aviv in 2008 by Edna Fast and her husband, Prof. Avital Fast, dedicated to fostering equal opportunity in art education and cross cultural discourse between Arab and Jews in Israel through the medium of visual arts.

WHY:

LunArt strongly believes that collaborative art projects and joint art education programs can provide a highly effective tool for a heightened awareness and deeper understanding of the issues facing the Arab and Jewish Israeli communities. Furthermore, we believe that Third Sector programs for a shared society and social justice should include art based programs as effective agents for social change and use communication via the medium of art as an educational tool for tolerance and cross cultural discourse.

HOW:

LunArt will initiate, promote and/or support free pre-academic art education courses and  art based cultural projects involving artists from the Arab and Jewish Israeli communities.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE SO FAR:

In its first eight years of operation, LunArt initiated and funded a  pilot project that provides tuition free pre-academic prep courses for gifted Arab-Israeli high school graduates aspiring for admission to art related academic programs but lacking the necessary educational, economic, linguistic and social support required for entry. The project, took place between 2009 through 2011 at the Minshar School of Art in Tel aviv and then moved in its fourth and fifth year to the Oranim College of Education in the lower Galilee (Kiryat Tivo’n). On December 2016, the pre academic prep course moved to the Art School at  Kaye College of Education in Beer Sheva in order to make this opportunity available to Israeli Bedouins as well.  So far, over 60% of the course graduates were admitted to academic art, film, architecture and design programs. In addition, LunArt was instrumental in bringing an Arab-Jewish Art Exhibition titled “Jaffa Mosaic” to the U.S.A. by partnering with the Inter Agency Task Force on Arab-Israeli Issues (www. IAtaskforce.org) of which LunArt is an active member. Lunart also supports Arab Israeli artists by purchasing art works for the LunArt collection (please click on tab above) as well as actively involved in supporting the Umm El Fahem Art Gallery in its drive to achieve government recognition as the first Arab Israeli Art Museum.

Contact: Edna Fast, Adv.* Israeli Mobile: 054/680-8631* ednafast@gmail.com