Welcome to the Institute for Contemporary Midrash!
The Institute for Contemporary Midrash (ICM) is a program in transition. ICM was founded in 1995 “to create bonds with our ancestors, facilitate change within continuity, give voice to the voiceless, and to empower and sanctify the religious imagination.” With generous foundation support, ICM –
- Offered 5 week-long subsidized summer training programs in the performing, visual and literary arts;
- Offered 3 week-long Bibliodrama trainings for Christian clergy and seminarians at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
- Published eight stimulating issues of “Living Text: The Journal of Contemporary Midrash,”
- Held the ground-breaking 1999 “The Future of Midrash: A Scholars and Artists Convocation,” which brought recognition to Contemporary Midrash as a multi-disciplinary field.
- Served as a resource and referral service for individuals seeking information about Contemporary Midrash, and communities seeking artists-in-residence.
In large part due to these visionary programs – and the many artists, scholars, and supporters who contributed to them – “contemporary midrash” has become a widely-accepted term of art.
Now ICM is being transformed into a web-based program.
While continuing to –
- respond to inquiries from scholars and artists,
- offer resources, make referrals to artists- and scholars-in-residence,and
- encourage Torah Alive! community-based trainings,
- distribute back issues of Living Text….
we are pleased to announce our new Web-Based Individual & Group Tutorials. In addition, ICM is currently negotiating with an institution of higher learning whose mission is aligned with ICM’s, to assume responsibility for ICM’s programming. We anticipate that this will include –
- a searchable international online repository for contemporary midrashim as pdfs, jpgs, audio clips and video links;
- digitization and electronic sale of the eight back issues of “Living Text” in a single e-volume;
- non-residential training programs at the intersection of the arts, midrash and liturgy.
Meanwhile, please enjoy the resources and links we have to offer on this new website, and watch for new developments. Good Midrash to You! 
Rivkah Walton, MFA Founding Director icmidrash@verizon.net
