photo by Riv Shapiro, 2020

Studio portrait by Yi Wang, 2024

About Riv

Riv (they/them) is a queer artist, outdoor educator and Jewish ritualist based on Dakota land (Minneapolis). They are a first-year MFA student in Interdisciplinary/Social Practice Art and Sculpture/Installation at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. After seven years working with innovative Jewish organizations and film clients in the Bay Area, Riv recently served as Director of Jewish Arts & Culture at the Minnesota JCC. Blending the roles of Educator, Priestess and Artist, Riv is dedicated to sharing the wisdom and the medicine of their Jewish ancestors through adaptive, accessible, and liberatory means.

 

Artist Statement

My creative work is process-oriented and often participatory, reveling in the intersections of ancestors, interspecies relationships, justice, queerness and spirituality. Much of my artistic practice centers around ancestral connection, cultural reclamation and preservation. I am dedicated to sharing the wisdom and the medicine of my Jewish ancestors through adaptive, accessible, and liberatory means. As a multimedia storyteller I work with film, performance, somatics, music, sculpture, installation, social events and curricula to invite others into a world of expanded possibility and rewoven connection. Queer/trans* Jewish artist community is my deepest home, and I frequently collaborate with others on music, zines, ritual and more.

From 2021-2024 I focused largely on producing immersive cultural experiences through my work as Director of Jewish Arts & Culture at the Minnesota JCC. I produced and directed the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival and Twin Cities Jewish Humor Fest, and created a new Jewish communal music series called Bo’u Nashir. In Fall 2024, I began an MFA program at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design with a focus on Social Practice Art.