"are nearly always filled to capacity for events". In calendar year 2010, there were approximately 63,300 attendees at theatrical performances, 31,800 attendees at dance and musical performances, and 36,100 children attending "Cultural Basket" events. The Center hosted over 900 events in 2010, with attendance in excess of 263,600 participants. Notwithstanding its prominence, the Center has a permanent staff of only four: a director-general, a secretary, a technician, and a ticket sales manager. Outside staff is brought in to produce large events. Other activities The seven-story building adjoining the Gerard Behar Center contains an adult and youth reading library, an adult education program known as the Popular University, and Ulpan Beit Ha'Am, the largest and oldest Hebrew-language ulpan (language immersion course) in Jerusalem. The ulpan, operated by the Jerusalem Municipality, offers courses for new immigrants, tourists, and retirees, and conducts field trips to acquaint new immigrants with Israel. A dance/exercise studio is on the ground floor of the building. In 1987 the Jerusalem Foundation incorporated the Gerard Behar theatre complex, the Beit Ha'Am educational and library facilities, and the dance studio into a larger public complex known as the Jacob & Hilda Blaustein Civic Center. Mural The northern façade of the Gerard Behar Center, facing Bezalel Street, features a mural titled "Around the World in 92 Days". The triptych painting is a large-scale reproduction of a 1976 painting by Jerusalem artist Gabriel Cohen; the original is housed in the Israel Museum. Painted in naïve art style, the painting depicts world landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Walls of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the pyramids of Egypt, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, bridges in London, and sights in India, with people and animals of all kinds walking along the streets and bridges below. The mural was produced by Cité de la Creation, which painted five trompe-l'œil murals in downtown Jerusalem. On the sidewalk across the street from the mural stand five small pillars topped with engraved metal plates describing the work in Hebrew and English, and depicting reproductions of different parts of the painting for visually-handicapped persons, with explanations in Braille. References Notes Sources External links 1961 establishments in Israel Theatres completed in 1961 Theatres in Jerusalem Culture of Jerusalem Buildings and structures in Jerusalem Performing arts centres Libraries in Israel Libraries in Jerusalem