As the nature and art director of the Goldsmith Early Childhood Center at Chizuk Amuno Congregation, Judy Mont has a dream job. The art lover gets to work with her passion every day, and also sees the youngest members of the community grow into themselves.
“Just the simple fact of them putting a seed in and watching it grow and caring for that, and just the exposure of all the beauty outside, it’s healthy. It gets [the kids] away from the screen; they taste healthy food harvested from the garden, straight from what they sowed,” Mont said. “So, just the innocence — and they’re sponges, and I want them to absorb this early.”
Mont was trained as a fine artist and grew up gardening. Needless to say, she is prepared for this role. She said that fusing her largest passions, all through a Jewish lens, is what makes work worthwhile for her.
The Hunt Valley resident started her career in New York City as a gallery artist. But she decided that she wanted to move closer to her hometown of Owings Mills and teach younger students, so she found the job at Chizuk Amuno and hasn’t looked back.
“I just fell in love with teaching early childhood, and then slowly, I built a curriculum called Earth art, and we created a garden, which is now our community garden,” Mont said. “And for the past four, almost five years, I’ve been trying to weave the curricula [together].”
Students at Chizuk Amuno’s Early Childhood Center use the school’s nature trail, plant and harvest seeds, take inspiration from the change of seasons and generally learn to appreciate the natural beauty around them. When winter comes, the students spend more time inside, but that doesn’t change the curriculum too much.
Through all of this, Jewish values are interwoven. Students learn about tikkun olam, the seven days of creation and more. Perhaps the best example of the intersection of art, Judaism and nature is the holiday of Sukkot. Mont and her students love building a sukkah.
While Mont attended school at both Chizuk Amuno and Krieger Schechter Day School, she was also homeschooled for a good portion of her childhood. As a competitive tennis player, that was the best option to accommodate her busy athletic schedule. She said she welcomed this, as she always had problems saying goodbye to her parents in the morning before she went to class.
Part of that is because her house was so full of life growing up. Mont is the oldest of four siblings, and she remains close to them. The Mont family had Shabbat dinner every weekend growing up, and they always gather for Jewish holidays today. Mont doesn’t technically belong to Chizuk Amuno, but she is a fixture there beyond her work in the classroom. She is a member of the Sisterhood group and plans on continuing to poke her head into different rooms and organizations within the synagogue’s community.
While Mont’s work at the school largely consists of teaching students the basics of art, she is inspired by a variety of greats, including some who pushed the boundaries of visual art.
She cited abstract expressionist Cy Twombly as her favorite artist, and said the movement he was a part of is something she finds herself gravitating toward.
Funny enough, much of Twombly’s appeal to her is in its relation to what she sees every day at Chizuk Amuno.
“It’s almost childlike art, but you can find the beauty within it,” she said. “That’s what I love, and that’s what inspires me the most.”
As an art teacher, Mont understands that every child’s output will be different.
“I never want anyone’s work to look the same,” she said. “I try to cater to each student and to the whole child.”
