An immersion in the L.A. art scene

Nine arts professionals from Tel Aviv, including museum directors, curators, educators and artists, are scheduled to meet with their Los Angeles counterparts this week during a marathon of visits to museums, galleries, private collections and artists’ studios. Traveling under the umbrella of the Tel Aviv-Los Angeles Partnership -- a project of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the cities of Tel Aviv and Los Angeles -- the visitors will check out everything from the J. Paul Getty Museum’s antiquities collection to cutting-edge art at Chinatown galleries and in the studios of Jennifer Steinkamp, Andrea Bowers and Jessica Bronson.

The overarching goal of the exchange is to develop a “deeper, more profound exposure” to different ways of making, teaching and exhibiting art, said Nancy Berman, director emeritus of the Skirball Cultural Center and chair of this week’s program.

Fresh ideas for future projects and partnerships are expected to emerge during the Israelis’ immersion in Los Angeles’ art scene, but a few specific projects are already in the talking stages. Among them are artist-in-residence programs at colleges and museums, and student exchanges between the Tel Aviv Museum of Art’s school and L.A. high schools that emphasize art. In addition, an adaptation of “The Color of Water,” an exhibition currently at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, may be presented at L.A.’s Zimmer Children’s Museum.

-- S.M.