photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation building at 917 Highland Drive, pictured Aug. 18, 2026, now features a Tree of Life mural designed by artist Dave Loewenstein.

The Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation will celebrate its new mural Friday with a potluck dinner and other activities.

The vividly colored 10-by-50-foot mural on the LJCC’s north wall at 917 Highland Drive was designed by local muralist Dave Loewenstein. It depicts an elder tree and is meant to suggest the congregation’s Jewish roots and its roots in Lawrence. The LJCC has been around since 1954.

The mural is also meant to suggest the Tree of Life — in Hebrew, “Etz Chaim” — a sacred symbol in Judaism.

The mural celebration will begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday and last for approximately an hour and a half. LJCC services will be held immediately following the celebration.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

The Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation building at 917 Highland Drive is pictured Wednesday, April 8, 2026.

“We hope to be outside in the parking lot directly in front of the mural so that we can enjoy bubbles and sidewalk chalk, etc.,” said Lara Giordano, the LJCC’s executive director, “but it will depend on the heat index. If it is too hot, we will need to gather inside for the celebration.”

A main dish for the potluck will be provided by LJCC’s family programming committee.

Loewenstein, LJCC President Rita York Hennecke, and Elijah Shalinsky, a teen at the LJCC who worked on the project, will speak briefly about how the mural came to be and what it means.

As the Journal-World reported, Lawrence’s Cultural Arts Commission signed off on the mural last spring, and the City Commission gave it final approval.

Giordano said at the time that LJCC’s hope was to transform the “humble” corrugated facade into “something beautiful.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation building at 917 Highland Drive, pictured Aug. 18, 2026, now features a Tree of Life mural designed by artist Dave Loewenstein.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation building at 917 Highland Drive, pictured Aug. 18, 2026, now features a Tree of Life mural designed by artist Dave Loewenstein.