Art & Design alum Hannah Finkelshteyn (BFA‘25) and BFA Filmmaking student Aakef Khan are among 14 individuals and organizations who will be honored on July 3 at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., as part of the the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.
Finkelshteyn and Khan, who mounted an exhibition together in Metuchen, NJ, in December 2025, are being honored by The Courage Project, which describes itself as a “national initiative investing in acts of courage and compassion that strengthen our communities and democracy.”
Finkelshteyn and Khan say that the events and aftermath of October 7, 2023, had a significant impact on their college experiences: The two met in the fall of 2023, when Khan approached an “Open Dialogue Table” set up by Finkelshteyn and other students from Rutgers Hillel. Once they realized they were both Mason Gross students, the pair was able to connect on their favorite filmmakers and photography equipment. Since then, Finkelshteyn and Khan have been working together to curate and contribute to their shared exhibition series, Open Archways: By the Light of the Same Moon.
The exhibition series, which aims to bring together Muslim and Jewish artists, is named for the two religions’ connection to the lunar cycle—just one of many similarities Finkelshteyn and Khan would identify between their respective cultures.
Together with Metuchen’s Bowery Art Collective, Finkelshteyn and Khan set out to curate an exhibition featuring artwork from both Jewish and Muslim artists, utilizing an artist-meetup model in which participants were invited to engage in dialogue and relationship-building with each other before creating their individual pieces for the show.
“I believe [understanding] starts with grassroots work like this, creating spaces where Muslim and Jewish people can intermingle and create friendships,” Khan said in an interview with Forward. “They may not agree on everything, but at least they can see the other side as human.”
In meetups, the artists were able to identify five topics relevant to both the Jewish and Muslim experiences. According to the exhibition catalogue, the show homed in on “shared moments, diaspora experience, womanhood, family and loved ones, and light and spirituality” as themes the artists had incorporated into the the works in the exhibition.
Finding these common themes didn’t necessarily come as a surprise to Finkelshteyn. In an interview with The Jewish Link, she recalls her Muslim classmates being able to understand and relate to her artwork (which often revolves around her Jewish identity) more frequently than others in her classes.
“I found that I had a lot in common with the Muslim students,” she said. “My hope for this exhibit is that it builds a loose network between the artists in both communities and encourages continued dialogue.
“The exhibit is the first step,” she said. “I hope the steps continue.”
Finkelshteyn and Khan will be recognized for their work as part of a special interfaith service marking the 250th anniversary of the United States and will receive a “Pay It Forward” award that will allow them to recommend that a grant be made to a values-aligned 501(c)(3) nonprofit in their community. For their “Pay It Forward” award, Finkelshteyn and Kahn have nominated The East-West Foundation, with hopes to continue their work supporting interfaith dialogue and understanding.
A second installment of Open Archways will also be on view at the Bowery Art Collective this August, featuring new works and artists. Submissions are open through July 31, 2026.
Learn more about The Courage Project here.