About Well of Wills
A Well... a source of water, of life, a symbol of Desire, according to the Jewish mystics. The site of ancient miracles and prayer. Well of Wills is our ward against the fears, doubts, and stagnancy that can block us on our creative, spiritual paths. Within every human being is a Well of Wills. A fountain of divine desires. Grounded in this consciousness and the particulars of our lives, we ask: What can be emptied, released, made to flow, healed and/or transformed?
Well of Wills is a diasporic Jewish community of practice in pursuit of collective liberation through the production of interdisciplinary art and research. We produce workshops, short films and performances showcased in galleries and stages around the country. Our research draws upon ancestral wisdom, somatics, and hybrid non-fiction storytelling methods to investigate Jewish lineage and mythology, and its contemporary relevance, through a feminist lens. Well of Wills cultivates nourishing and playful spaces for the creative expression of professional and novice makers alike and is committed to centering the voices of all who identify as female, non-binary and trans. However, we encourage people of all gender/identities to engage with our work and attend our programs. We share a collective commitment to dismantling systems of oppression, examining and reckoning with our complicity in them, and working to create a world in which each life is sacred and equal. We are invested in Palestinian liberation and freedom for all in the Land. We center our work in a desire to contribute to the cultivation and enrichment of our diasporic Jewish identity and culture.
Well of Wills was founded in 2016 by Hannah Roodman, Meirav Ong, Nessa Norich, Mati Engel and Daniella Friedman.
Meet the Core Team:
Hannah Roodman
Filmmaker | Designer
For the past ten years Hannah has been directing and producing video, for the likes of Malala Fund, the UN, Alicia Keys Foundation, and the World Food Program. Hannah has presented her work internationally, at the TED Conference (2014) and the INK Conference (2014). Hannah has her MFA in the TransDisciplinary Design at Parsons School of Design.
Instagram @hroodman
Nessa Norich
Director | Writer | Choreographer | Performance Educator
Nessa Norich is an interdisciplinary artist who trained at the Lecoq school for physical theater in Paris. She has collaboratively created over a dozen original works of theater in NYC and Europe, at such notable venues as the Institute for Contemporary Art, The Battersea Arts Center, and the British Film Institute in London, the Edinburgh Fringe, Showbox Festival in Oslo, the New Orleans Fringe Festival, and Magic Futurebox and Joe’s Pub in New York City. Her work has received critical acclaim most notably in the Huffington Post and the NY Times and has been recognized with a 2016 NY Innovative Theater Award. Nessa has also taught Devised Theater, Free Movement and Writing to ages 8-80.
Instagram @nessoono
Meirav Ong
Artist | Art Director
Meirav Ong is an Ashkenazi-American transdisciplinary artist currently based in Philly, PA. Meirav draws from her Jewish heritage as a framework to conceive of an embodied prayer practice that exists as an alternative to Judaism’s patriarchal structures. Her practice explores embodied prayer in relation to grief, Jewish mourning rituals, and Genetic Memory through textiles, clay, sound, performance and social practice. Meirav holds an MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from University of Michigan. She has exhibited at The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, CA, The Everson Museum in Syracuse, NY, The Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, MI, among others. Her work with community organizations includes The Zekelman Holocaust Center, Lab/Shul, and JFREJ among others. She’s the recipient of grants to the Vermont Studio Center, Penland School of Craft, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Chautauqua School of Art among others. Her work has been published by AJS Perspectives, Ayin Press and No Tokens Journal among others.