Imagining A Better World: The Artwork Of Nelly Toll Now On Display At Lakewood Public Library
Lakewood Public Library is pleased to host "Imagining a Better World: the Artwork of Nelly Toll" on display now through July 31 in the Main Library Second Floor Gallery. This exhibition was organized by the Massillon Museum, with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The exhibit features the artwork of Nelly Toll, who was a young Jewish girl living in Poland during World War II. Nelly and her mother hid from the Nazis in the home of a Catholic family for over a year. While in hiding, Nelly’s mother encouraged her to paint and write, and she created nearly sixty watercolor paintings imagining what life would be like outside of hiding.
Nelly and her mother were the family’s only survivors and eventually immigrated to the United States in 1951. Nelly went on to become an artist, therapist, professor, and lecturer.
In 2003, "Behind the Secret Window: A Memoir of a Hidden Childhood During World War II" was published, featuring Nelly’s artwork and journal entries.
Massillon Museum has created this traveling exhibition with a collection of high quality reproductions from Nelly’s original works. The originals are being held in the permanent collection of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Israel or with private collectors.
Nelly spent her life speaking about her experiences in the war, teaching a Holocaust class at the University of Pennsylvania and sharing her story with others. Sadly, Toll passed away earlier this year at the age of 88.
"Imagining a Better World: the Artwork of Nelly Toll" is free and open to the public Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.