Shifra Whiteman

I was born and raised in NYC and now call the Chicago area home. I’m a University of Michigan, STAMPS School of Art & Design BFA graduate with a minor in Judaic Studies, and in 2016 received my masters degree in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago. 

My father, Adam Whiteman, is where I get my artistic creativity. He learned Papirshnit (Jewish papercut arts) from the revivalist Tsirl Waletzky. When I was 7 years old, he taught me how to cut with an X-acto knife and by the time I was 12 going to weekly bar and bat mitzvahs, he and I would sit in synagogue sanctuaries analyzing the Jewish images on the ark, stained glass windows, and the textiles on the Torahs.

Over the last 20 years, I have been a freelance artist and educator, focused on print, pattern, Hebraic font, and Judaica. I am currently focusing on custom Ketubot / Ksibes (Jewish marriage contracts) and Yahrzeit (Jewish death anniversary art).