ABOUT

Using the iPad to view the embedded video in the History, Heritage and the Lower East Side series.

 
 
 

Yona Verwer is a multidisciplinary visual artist, born in the Netherlands and based in New York City. Her work explores themes of identity, immigration, ecology, heritage, and spirituality, drawing from a wide spectrum of cultural influences.

Working across painting, installation, and new media, Verwer investigates the intersections between the human experience, the natural world, and spiritual tradition.

Her latest body of work, LIVING WATERS, comprises two interconnected projects:

  • LIVING WATERS – Turning the Tide, which explores the relationship between nature and human impact, integrating video and cultural texts to prompt reflection on environmental responsibility.

  • LIVING WATERS – IMMERSIONS: Where Tradition Meets Transformation, which reimagines ritual and heritage through contemporary media and symbolic storytelling.

Verwer holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. She has exhibited in over 30 museum shows and numerous galleries across the U.S. and internationally. Her work has been featured at the Jerusalem Biennale, the Andy Warhol Factory, the Heller Museum, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African-American History, the Yeshiva University Museum, the Ein Harod Museum, the Bronx Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, the Mizel Museum, the Stanback Museum, and the Canton Museum, among others.

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

Her work is featured in Heritage: Jewish Artists in America Since 1900 (Syracuse University Press, Fall 2025) by art historian Matthew Baigell, as well as in his Jewish Identity in American Art: A Golden Age Since the 1970s, and Ori Soltes’ Tradition and Transformation: Three Millennia of Jewish Art.

Verwer’s art has been reviewed in publications such as The New York Times (William Zimmer), The New Yorker (Boris Fishman), Art Criticism (Matthew Baigell), Ars Judaica, The Huffington Post, NRC Handelsblad, and Newsday. Her writing and work have been published in multiple languages.

In 2008, Verwer founded the Jewish Art Salon, where she currently serves as director.

“Verwer is recognized as one of the most significant contemporary figures in the history of Jewish-themed art in America.”
— Matthew Baigell, “Heritage: Jewish Artists in America Since 1900”
(Fall 2025, Syracuse Press)