The David Labkovski Project (DLP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in Los Angeles. The DLP creates a living bridge from the lessons of the Holocaust to the realities of today’s world. We introduce and preserve the legacy of the Holocaust experience through the artwork of world-renowned artist David Labkovski (1906-1991), who documented life before, during and after the Holocaust with his paintbrush and pencils. DLP was founded in 2016 by Leora Raikin, Lisa Lainer-Fagan, Connie Marco & Stephanie Wolfson.
There are many unique components to DLP’s approach to Holocaust education. DLP uses both a body of narrative art that evokes emotions and connections and a pedagogical methodology that transfers ownership and responsibility onto students. The students are therefore able to educate their peers and community through this artwork and become active rather than passive participants. The universal language of art transcends backgrounds, thus making this approach accessible to all. In addition, through DLP’s programs, which use a project-based approach, students learn leadership, public speaking, and other skills. DLP also shares lessons of life, survival, resilience and the importance and responsibility of bearing witness to history.
Holocaust education is lacking in our educational institutions. The David Labkovski Project focuses on educating individual students, who bring our programs to their teachers, who bring DLP to their school, which then impacts the community. DLP has impacted thousands of students since our programs began. We’ve worked with more than 200 teachers in more than 23 schools, in multiple states and across 7 countries. Our student docents have come to us from more than 40 different schools as well.
David Labkovski was a Jewish artist whose paintings depict his life and the lives of other Holocaust survivors. His works depict “the world that was” as seen through his perspective; he paints colorful scenes of his life in Vilna (current-day Vilnius, Lithuania) before the war and the devastation he finds there upon his return from a Siberian prison.
David Labkovski hoped to share his art with others, so that they might understand the importance of bearing witness to history and find hope for a better future.
We are advocates for tolerance, inclusiveness, and equality in our communities. We are grateful for the opportunities we have had to share DLP’s mission and hope that David Labkovski’s artwork has inspired others to practice tolerance and inclusion.
Leora Raikin, DLP’s founder and executive director, was a featured speaker at the 3rd Biannual Sydney Jewish Educator’s Symposium on October 11, 2023. The event
DLP installed the exhibit “Documenting History through Art” at the Capital Group. DLP Founder & Executive Director, Leora Raikin, presented lectures and workshops on the
This year, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, District 44, was proud to introduce the remarkable Leora Raikin from the David Labkovski Project on the Assembly Floor for the creation of
