Celebrating Young Jewish Artists Down Under

​By Felice Caspar

Sculptor Sonia Payes presenting the Bencjan Rozencwajg Scholarship to Natasha Kane.

From left: Leah Black with Patron Lady Anna Cowen who has just presented the Morrie Gold Memorial prize to Shmuli Cohen.

The B’nai B’rith Shalom Menorah Unit in the Melbourne, Australia suburb of Caulfield, has, for 22 years, organized an annual arts show and competition. It provides Jewish students with an extraordinary opportunity to showcase their talent and win prizes and scholarships. This year, students aged 11 to 18 submitted more than 200 paintings, sculptures, ceramics, mixed and digital media.

The 2017 exhibition was held in the Glen Eira Arts Complex in August. Leah Black, chair of the Shalom Menorah Unit Jewish Art Competition Committee, welcomed a large crowd to the opening and award ceremony. Three councillors from the city and representatives from other organizations were recognized and appreciation was extended to the sponsors, advertisers and art judges. A special expression of gratitude was given to the event’s honorary patron, Lady Anna Cowen.

The program’s featured speaker was Sonia Payes, an award-winning sculptor, photographer and new media artist whose works have been exhibited in Los Angeles, London, Shanghai, Auckland, Brisbane, Perth and in her hometown of Melbourne. The artist spoke of the value of encouraging young people to express their creativity. She presented the Bencjan Rozencwajg Memorial Scholarship for the work that showed the most potential to Natasha Kane, of the King David School.

Oscar Casper won first prize for sculpture in the 16-18 age group.

Dr. Benny Monheit, president of B’nai B’rith Victoria and Leah Black presented prizes for painting/drawing, mixed media and sculpture in each of three age groupings. Lady Cowen presented the Morrie Gold Memorial prize to 13-year-old Shmuli Cohen, of Leibler Yavneh College.

This competition would not be possible without local support, involvement by respected experts in art and the gallery staff, and, above all, the hard work and organizational skills of volunteers in the B’nai B’rith Shalom Menorah Unit. The Unit developed the concept of the event, thanks to the foresight and generosity of one devoted B’nai B’rith member who started it all. The exhibition catalogue includes this tribute:

”Morrie Gold was born in 1917 in Warsaw, Poland and immigrated to Australia in 1937. In the Second World War he joined the Australian Army and fought at El Alamein. Always a lover of the arts, his interest was furthered through his artistic wife Marie. As an art benefactor he contributed to the National Gallery of Victoria.

Art by Natasha Kane.

Raizel Gutnick won the prize for best work on a Jewish theme.

“His interest in fostering art amongst Jewish youth was prompted by watching his grandson's artistic abilities developing. He realized that to encourage the interest and confidence of children in art there must be interaction with the public.

“Having been a member of B'nai B'rith for some time, Morrie felt it was the right organization to fulfill his wish of running an Annual Jewish Youth Art Competition. And so this competition was born.

Morrie Gold died in 1993 and is survived by his wife Marie, two daughters and grandchildren.”

His bequest to B'nai B'rith inspired this annual Jewish youth art competition.