Meet a Scientologist: Sculptor Jule Rotenberg Exalting the Spirit through Art

Artist Jule Rotenberg credits Scientology with her success.

Life should be a work of art, according to Jule Rotenberg.

“My goal as an artist is to imbue the cold solidity of the bronze with human spirit—to me, movement captures this energy and is my inspiration. Humanity is my subject,” says the acclaimed sculptor.

Rotenberg credits Scientology with enabling her to gain greater understanding of how to express herself—a major impact on her art and her life. “It’s just that level of communication,” the Encino, California-based artist says. “I’ve learned how to communicate. It changed my life.”

She learned of Scientology 28 years ago while studying dance in college. “I was having problems with something in my life,” she said, when a fellow student suggested she read Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health by L. Ron Hubbard.

Enrolling on a course at a Scientology Church was a turning point for her, she says: “I learned how to study information so that it was mine, it wasn’t just something I memorized.”

Rotenberg sees art as raising people above the ordinary in life—it helps them realize they are more than just a physical body—that they are spiritual beings. “Art has a history of exalting the spirit of an individual,” she says. “And it doesn’t necessarily have to be all about roses or typical beautiful things.”

The human condition is a theme that weaves through all of Rotenberg’s work. In her words: “I’ve studied Scientology to learn more about myself and more about others and how they tick and how people express their emotions physically and facially and what all that means. Then you know why someone acts a certain way. As a sculptor, I imbue the piece with that energy and with that emotion. Then the viewer can look at that piece and understand a little bit more about himself and about others and about life.”

Rotenberg says that through Scientology she has also changed her viewpoint of what she can accomplish, ridding herself of “considerations that were detrimental and one of them was, ‘It’s good enough.’ Now I work toward the highest standard that I can attain and that always increases, as I do more and as I develop my technique. It’s an emphasis on being the best that I possibly can be.”

Watch Jule Rotenberg’s “Meet a Scientologist” video on Scientology.org.

The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total 150 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.

A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own YouTube Video Channel. The Official Scientology YouTube Channel has now been viewed by millions of visitors.