Jews in the Golden State

The Labyrinth Project, a unit of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, offered its exceptional expertise in creating stunning visual installations blending historical narratives and interactive experiences. The Magnes gave full access to the resources of its unique Western Jewish Americana archives, viewed through a four-decade-old expertise in the preservation and interpretation of California’s Jewish history. The Magnes and the Labyrinth Project had already collaborated in the past when the exhibition Danube Exodus was installed in Berkeley.

The grant enabled the Magnes to create and implement the architecture of its digital programs, which resulted in the digitization of thousands of archival documents, photographs and objects from its collections, and in their online distribution across a network of social media, thanks to a dedicated platform.

The grant also enabled Labyrinth Project to create the prototype of a new portal, Jewish Homegrown History, which incorporates assets and knowledge from the Magnes archives.

Homegrown History, directed by Professor >Marsha (USC), Executive Director of the Labyrinth Project, and co-directed by Rosemary Comella (USC), Creative Director of the Labyrinth Project, Professor William Deverell (USC), Director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, and Dr. Francesco Spagnolo, Director of Research and Collections at the Magnes, is still being developed, and The Magnes continues to add its resources.