Marisa Scheinfeld

Marisa Scheinfeld was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in the Catskills. She received her B.A. from the State University at Albany in 2002 and her MFA from San Diego State University in 2011. Her work is motivated by an interest in the landscape and its embedded histories, both apparent and hidden. 

Marisa’s photographic projects and books are among the collections of the Library of Congress, The New York Public Library, The Center for Jewish History, The National Yiddish Book Center, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & Life at UC Berkeley, The Simon Wiesenthal Center, The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation and The Edmund and Nancy K. Dubois Library at the Museum of Photographic Arts.

Marisa is a frequent guest lecturer and her photographs have been exhibited  throughout the United States and in the UK. Her work has appeared in publications such as National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Paper Magazine, Newsweek, and American Photography.

On October 4, 2016, Cornell University Press released her first book entitled The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America’s Jewish Vacationland. In late 2022, Marisa founded the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project, a non-profit historic preservation initiative that marks and interpret places important to the Borscht Belt era’s  history. The project involves the creation of a historic marker trail, a series of curated, public programs and a self-guided audio driving tour that spans two-counties in the Catskills. The Marker Project considers the Borscht Belt’s creation, legacy and impact on American Jewish life, the Catskills, New York State history, and American culture. Marisa is also working on her second book, to be published with Cornell University Press in 2025.