November 2018 Portrait of the Month - Dr. Joseph Jaksy

Dr. Joseph Jaksy

This month we’re featuring a portrait of Dr. Joseph Jaksy. In honor of the incredible activism we have seen around the country, we wanted to feature a subject who put his life on the line to help others. Dr. Jaksy was the physician for the founder of the Slovak People's Party, the fascist regime that was complicit with the Nazis. He used his position of power to save Jewish people from deportation and death. He would bring in Jewish patients under the guise of illness, then hide them in his wards until he could get them to safety. With a group of friends, he devised a plan that included: finding shelter, providing money, food, and medical care, forging identification papers and falsifying medical records; and helping people get out of the country.

Stacey T. created this portrait at Lantana Middle School in Florida and reflected on her experience:

What was it like to spend so much time looking at a a photograph and then making a portrait based on the photo?
To study a photo of someone then make art about them makes me feel as [though] I'm allowing their history to be told in art [and] that their thoughts and emotions show in the picture.

Write a caption for the portrait that you made. It can say something about the person or something about your feelings making the portrait."
The doctor who risked his life for others."

What did you like and dislike about the art experience?
I liked how this showed me a new way to create art that I wasn't used too. I like the way that by light and dark you can create a photo even when it's upside down.

What do you think you will remember about this experience? Why?I
'll remember how there are different ways to create art and how Dr. Joseph saved many people even when it meant he would be killed.