Chassidus in Color Art Competition Launches for Year Three

Last year’s contest drew hundreds of submissions from over six countries. Centered on the Twelve Pesukim, this year’s competition is aiming even higher.

Can you create a painting that teaches Chassidus? The Chassidus in Color Art Contest—now launching its third annual competition—is challenging professional and aspiring artists alike to do just that.

Run in conjunction with Rabbi Simon Jacobson’s MyLife Chassidus Applied and COLLive, the art contest drew over a hundred submissions last year alone.

This year’s theme is straightforward: pick one of the 12 Pesukim—the pesukim and maamarei chazal the Rebbe chose fifty years ago this year as guiding principles to share with others—study its meaning, and create an original artwork that brings your application of that idea to life. The image should speak for itself.

Last year’s competition drew artists from the United States, Israel, Chile, England, Ukraine, Argentina, and beyond. Their work hung in two Crown Heights galleries for a month, and the winners were honored at the Jewish Children’s Museum. Now entering its third year, this contest promises to be even bigger.

A panel of respected artists and educators will evaluate the entries: Michoel Muchnik, the renowned Chassidic artist; Rabbi Yossi Paltiel of Inside Chassidus; Rabbi Mendel Wolf, director of Brush Hour; Estee Klein of EsteeFineArt; and Mush Kanner, art director of JLI.

New to the panel this year is Yoel Glick, the Kiryas Joel-based painter who trained under Max Ginsburg, one of America’s foremost realists, and is known for his luminous scenes of Meah Shearim and Jewish life. For him, it’s an opportunity to help artists develop their talent as a means of expressing Yiddishkeit. “I truly feel that someone who has this talent can’t be a true oved Hashem without developing it,” he said.

Judges will evaluate three aspects: technique, originality, and how effectively the artwork communicates its Chassidus message.
Prizes
Professional track: $2,000 for first place, $1,300 for second, $700 for third—plus designer bags and gift cards. Hobbyist track: $1,000, $770, and $500. Artists aged 15–18 automatically qualify to enter for a separate $500 Youth Prodigy Prize. Kids ages 7–14 have their own competition run through Tzivos Hashem.
How to Enter
Create an original two-dimensional artwork—painting, drawing, digital art, whatever medium you prefer. No AI art or photography. Include a short paragraph explaining which pasuk you chose and how your piece conveys its message.

Deadline: Thursday, March 19th (Rosh Chodesh Nissan), 11:59 p.m. EST.
What’s Next
Finalists will have their work displayed at Maor Art Gallery and Betzalel Art Gallery in Crown Heights throughout Iyar (April 19–May 17). The awards ceremony takes place Sunday, May 3rd, at the Jewish Children’s Museum.

“For people who have talent, this challenges them to have a higher purpose for their art,” said judge Michoel Muchnik.

Past winners say the experience is worth much more than the prize money. Jeremy Garrett, last year’s first-place professional winner, had spent years trying to gain traction as a Jewish artist. “Finding appreciation within the Jewish community has not been easy,” he said. “Since winning this contest, I know the tides have changed.”

Sara Friedman, who took first place in the hobbyist category, found something unexpected: the Chassidus she painted stayed with her. “Since completing my painting, I’ve noticed those concepts showing up in my daily life,” she said. “That’s the true intent—taking lofty ideas and making them real.”

Submit your painting at chassidusapplied.com/chassidusincolor. For background on understanding the 12 Pesukim, visit twelvepesukim.org.

Questions? Email [email protected] or text 203-687-6436. Follow @evocative_jewish_art on Instagram.

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