As the JCC of Greater Baltimore’s chief arts officer, Sara Shalva helps Jewish artists and performers find an audience in Baltimore. She oversees operations at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts, the JCC’s on-campus theater, as well as arts-based educational programs at the JCC itself with the goal of fostering an appreciation for fine and performing arts in both children and adults.

Through her work, she’s had the chance to meet many talented performers, from Jewish comedians to local dance teams. But the most rewarding part for her is being part of what she describes as a very intentional Jewish community.

Shalva, 46, lives in Pikesville with her husband, Gilchrist chaplain, rabbi and author Benjamin Shalva. They have two children: Lev, 18, and Avital, 15. Shalva is not a member of any particular synagogue but attends services and events at a variety of Baltimore congregations where her husband often works, including Chizuk Amuno Congregation, The Soul Center at Beth El Congregation of Baltimore and Bolton Street Synagogue.

Born in Managua, Nicaragua, Shalva and her parents returned to the U.S. shortly after she was born due to Nicaragua’s tense political climate at the time. They settled in Reston, Virginia, where Shalva had a rather unique Jewish upbringing.

“I was part of an independent, anti-authoritarian, feminist, hippie chavurah, where my mom was one of the founders,” Shalva recalled. “I grew up learning a real appreciation for Jewish peoplehood and aspects of Judaism that are more related to storytelling than ritual observance.”

As a teenager, Shalva studied abroad at Alexander Muss High School in Israel. This was her first time in the country, and she would go on to live there for four years. She attended Hebrew University and the pluralistic Pardes Institute, volunteered as part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Project Otzma program for young adults and worked at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Her time in Israel took her all over the country, from Baltimore’s sister city Ashkelon to Bedouin villages. She even met her husband there.

“I lived in Ashkelon and volunteered for a merkaz klita [immigrant absorption center] where I would work with the residents,” she said. “There were a bunch of Argentinian and Ethiopian residents, and we helped teach them English and technology. That was 2001, so during 9/11, I was actually living in an absorption center in Ashkelon, which was kind of a crazy thing.”

Eventually, Shalva and her family returned to the U.S. They moved from Israel to New York, Boston to Virginia and eventually to Baltimore when she took a position at Pearlstone as its assistant director.

There, she helped develop Jewish retreats and create educational curricula, giving her the foundations for her current work in arts education.

“By locating and creating an intentional community, we could fill each other up by living in community together,” she explained.

Now, in her current role, in addition to planning and overseeing performances at the Gordon Center, Shalva is involved with the JCC’s recently introduced J Life engagement platform, which provides hands-on Jewish experiences for families.

Her work has allowed her to meet many Jewish artists and performers. Shalva specifically mentioned comedian Judy Gold, describing her as “hilarious and fun to hang out with,” and author and podcast host Mark Oppenheimer, who hosts the Jewish podcast “Unorthodox.”

“He’s an old friend, but it was lovely to host friends who are in the literary community at the JCC,” Shalva said.

One especially rewarding part of Shalva’s work is that it gives her and other community members the ability to learn more about the world around them, exploring narratives that they may not have considered or known much about. She recalls one partnership she
helped facilitate between the State School of Maryland and the Meyerhoff Gallery that explored shared narratives of slavery and oppression between Jewish Americans and African Americans.

“I’m honored and privileged to have the opportunity to encourage the community to think about art as activism. There are things that we can do through art that we can’t do in any other way,” Shalva said. “It can make you think about the world, your friends and yourself differently. And I feel grateful to be in a position to present art in a way that is inspiring, meaningful and challenging.”