New England artist sends a message of joy, literally, with the Hanukkah Forever stamp
![Jeanette Kuvin Oren in her studio with her original artwork for the Hanukkah stamp.](https://archive.nenc.news/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Hannakuh-stamp-art.png)
Jeanette Kuvin Oren in her studio with her original artwork for the Hanukkah stamp. (Courtesy Jeanette Kuvin Oren)
In 1984, when Jeanette Kuvin Oren was an epidemiology Ph.D. student at Yale University and preparing for her wedding, the university rabbi had a suggestion: Since Oren already pursued art as a hobby, would she be open to making her own ketubah? She said yes, and her life changed. But it wasnât only because of the marriage.
âI made ours and then people asked me to make their ketubah for their Jewish wedding,â Oren recalled. âOne thing led to another, and I called my parents and said, âGuess what? I’m quitting my Ph.D.â I’m going to be a full time Judaic artist.â Oren, who lives in Woodbridge, Connecticut, has been a full-time artist for 38 years, and now, the public is seeing the result of yet another commission: the USPS Hanukkah Forever stamp.
âWhile it had always been a dream of mine to have my art on a stamp, there isn’t much you can do to make it happen either,” Oren said. In the world of these commissions, you donât find the stamp. The stamp finds you.
Oren’s assignment for the 2022 stamp started two years ago. And according to Ethel Kessler, one of four contracted USPS art directors, thatâs actually pretty fast. Orenâs is the sixth Hanukkah stamp that Kessler has overseen, and sheâs been art directing for the USPS for 25 years.
The directors act as artistic scouts, looking at art recommended to them while keeping certain themes or assignments in mind. Then, Kessler explained, after the artist has been contacted and contracted, the design proceeds to a committee for approval â which only meets four times a year. Then, after the artist produces a final version of their work, the director scales it down to the size of a stamp. Only then does it go to production. The Hanukkah stamp changes every other year; the stamp design for 2024 has already been approved.
âThree years is usually the minimum,â Kessler said. But Orenâs was finished in two. âThis one just kind of hit all the milestones right when we needed them.â
Kessler discovered Oren by coming across one of Orenâs wall hangings, a depiction of a seven branch menorah, which Oren also turned into glass ark doors for Temple Shalom in Medford. Kessler believed that a Hanukkah menorah â with its nine branches â could be done in the same style for the stamp.
![](https://archive.nenc.news/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Hannakuh-stamp.jpg)
The 2022 Hanukkah Forever stamp. (Jeanette Kuvin Oren)
The commission, Oren said, couldn’t have come at a better time. âIn the height of the pandemic, when I was really thinking, âAm I ever going to be commissioned again?â I got a phone call from Ethel Kessler and she said, âWe love your art. Can you adapt one of your designs and make it into a Hanukkah design?â The only requirement: she couldn’t tell anyone.
Oren notes the significant emotional weight that came with this commission, a stamp that will also hang in the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. Several of her family members were killed during the Holocaust, but her grandfather made it to the United States. In the 1940s he began collecting stamps. âI knew of his collection, and I loved that he loved the art on stamps,â she remembered. Oren says that her grandfather tried to get her to collect stamps but that it didn’t really catch on. Then when she was older, her grandfather’s stamp collection was stolen. “He was heartbroken over that. It was such a connection to the United States.â Now, years later, itâs her own art being featured on a stamp. âItâs a really nice way to remember him and his stamp collection,â she said.
Reflecting on the notable rise of antisemetism in the U.S., Oren explained her belief that a form of combating that hate is to meet it with an even more pronounced embrace of her culture. âThe only thing I can do, other than publicly fight for leaders that speak out against antisemitism, which I do, is to celebrate the joy of Judaism,â she explained. âAnd the postage stamp is a unique opportunity to share that joy with all of America and not just the Jewish community. So it’s really been a great honor.â
This story was originally published by GBH News, a partner of the New England News Collaborative.