Bayit: Building Jewish seeks visual art arising out of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Torah and Haftarah readings for a forthcoming bound volume intended to open up those readings in new and meaningful ways. The volume will be curated by Justin Sakofs and Bayit’s publishing team.
Honoraria will be available for accepted artworks.
About
Because the Torah and haftarah readings for the Yamim Nora’im are rich and multilayered, they’re not always accessible. Even with good translations (or Hebrew fluency), sometimes the words don’t reach us — or maybe we’re not visual thinkers / learners / pray-ers — or maybe metaphors feel outmoded or unfamiliar. For some of us maybe the printed text and/or aural experience of hearing Torah and haftarah are intellectually interesting, but not emotionally or spiritually compelling. Enter visual art, which reaches heart and mind in a different way.
This bound volume of artwork will offer another modality for entering into the experience of the high holidays. The art curated and collected here will open doorways into the traditional Torah and haftarah readings* for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The book can serve as a visual companion to whatever printed mahzor (high holiday prayerbook) is being used at any synagogue, havurah, or minyan across and beyond denominational life. It will also be suitable for use by those who choose to spend the holidays outside of shul settings.
We welcome full-color art in any style or medium (suitable for reproduction in a bound volume.)
(*Note: different denominations offer different Torah and haftarah readings, and we welcome submissions arising out of any and all of those selections. This volume is pluralist and aspires to offer visual doorways into all of the texts that have become standard across the Jewish movements.)
Submission deadline is April 30, 2024.
Submit work via this google form.
Please include artist bio (150 words or fewer) and artist statement (250 words or fewer)
Publication
The Mahzor Companion will be published in the summer of 2024 and available for individual as well as bulk sales.
Submission Requirements
High-res digital file, suitable for reproduction on an 8” x 8” page.
Art may be in any medium, as long as the image can be reproduced in color.
Source text (tell us which Haftarah or Torah reading it relates to).
Brief description of the artwork and what inspired you to create it, not more than 250 words.
Artist bio, not to exceed 150 words.
- All submissions must be received by April 30, 2024.
Click through to the RFP (“request for proposals”) to read more. There’s also a submission upload form linked there
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v6fM3Y1VobyAZXyvQPQN5CRB9qhOYUX4AmjVQXIIPnI/edit?usp=sharing
