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Yona Verwer is a Dutch-born, New York-based multidisciplinary visual artist whose work explores themes of identity, ecology, heritage, and transformation. Her practice spans painting, installation, video, and new media, often combining traditional techniques with contemporary narratives.

Her current series-in-progress are:

Wampum and Windmills: Shared Shores, exploring the complex interactions between early 17th-century Dutch settlers in New Netherland (New Amsterdam) and the Lenape (indigenous inhabitants of the region).

Turning the Tide: Art in the Wake of Plastic and Possibility, visual exploration of plastic pollution in the oceans, inspired by Jewish ecological thought, using embedded video, painting, and cultural references to explore environmental impact.

If Not Now, When? Jewish Beginnings in Nieuw Amsterdam, about the earliest Jews in New York City.

Verwer holds an MFA from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Her work has been featured in over 30 museum exhibitions and numerous galleries across the United States and internationally, including the Andy Warhol Factory, the Heller Museum, Reginald Lewis Museum of African-American Art,, the Bronx Museum, Jerusalem Biennale, and the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art.

Her artwork is included in the forthcoming book Heritage: Artists in America Since 1900 (Syracuse University Press, 2025) and she has been published and reviewed in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Art Criticism, The Huffington Post, NRC Handelsblad, and Newsday.

In addition to her studio practice, Verwer is active in the arts community as the founding director of the Jewish Art Salon, a global organization supporting contemporary artists exploring cultural and spiritual themes.

She is the recipient of the 2024 Fellowship Grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.

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