Background
Rosenbaum was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926.
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Al Rosenbaum
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Rosenbaum co-founded the with Jay Ipson and Mark Fetter in 1997. It was originally housed in several rooms at the Temple Beth El on Roseneath Road in Richmond between 1997 and 2003. A new, larger location within a renovated warehouse was dedicated in April 2003.
Rosenbaum created the sculpture of a menorah with six candles that currently stands at the museum. Each of the six candles is intended to represent one million Jews who died during the Holocaust. Rosembaum's menorah sculpture also appears in the 's official logo.
Rosembaum's initial interest in art glass led him to enroll in courses at Virginia Commonwealth University specifically for glass blowing and casting. One of his first major sculptures, a 6-foot-tall piece which he called Shoah, was constructed of wrought iron meant to remind the viewer of concentration camp gates, glass intended to recall Kristallnacht, a rotating "searchlight," rocks and wood. Rosembaum's Shoah is now on permanent display at the In an interview, Rosembaum said that he had seen a wide range of reactions to this specific sculpture, "from the little ones trying to climb inside to the tears of the elderly."
Rosembaum produced his first one man art show at the Valentine Museum in 1997.
Death
Al Rosenbaum died on April 11, 2009, at the age of 82. He was a resident of Richmond, Virginia, at the time.
