Max May & Lydia May Memorial Holocaust Art & Writing Contest

This year’s theme: What Valuable Lessons Have You Learned from the Holocaust?

2023 marks ninety years since the Nazis came to power in Germany. They began their campaign of hatred by bullying and harassing Jews and many other groups before progressing to actual persecution and murder.

The Max May and Lydia May Holocaust Art and Writing Contest is named after the grandparents of Renate Frydman, Director of the Dayton Holocaust Resource Center. Each year, students in grades 5–8 (Division I) and 9–12 (Division II), attending public school, parochial school, or are home schooled within the Miami Valley are invited to learn more about the Holocaust and share their reflections through artistic expression, and creative writing.

What can students submit?

In order to qualify, all submissions must incorporate the current year’s theme. Students are encouraged to not just explore the history and aftermath of the Holocaust, but to also engage artistically with this year’s specific focus. Student art and writing submissions must be the independent effort of the student. All submissions will be judged on originality and relevance to the theme.

Art
Examples of art accepted are drawing, painting, photography, print making, three-dimensional sculpture, and mixed media. Three-dimensional art submissions should be no larger than 3ftx3ft and weigh no more than 5-10lbs. Two-dimensional or digitally created art may be larger, however, it must be securely matted to heavy weight matte board or foam core. All in-person art submissions must have a typed label securely attached to the back or bottom of the piece with the following information: title of piece, student name, art medium, school, grade, teacher, student email, teacher email. If a writing explanation accompanies an art piece, it must be in a plastic sleeve or other protective framing attached to the entry form and clearly labeled with the art piece information. For safety and ease of transport, please do not use any sharp objects or pointed edges in the art piece.

Writing
Types of writing accepted are fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Poetry and prose submissions will be judged separately from fiction and non-fiction submissions. Each entry should not exceed 2,000 words, must be typed and double spaced.

All students, teachers and family members are invited to attend the Yom Hashoah program on Sunday, April 23, 2023.

How to Submit

Digital Submissions – Art and Writing

Writing submission – Download form off of Daytonholocaust.org. Writing must be formatted in either Word or PDF and emailed to Jane Hochstein (jhochstein@jfgd.net) with the following information included in the body of the email: Title of piece, student name, school, grade, teacher, student email and teacher email.

Art submission – Must be original image. Include all angles of the piece with the following information included in the body of the email: Title of piece, student name, school, grade, teacher, student email and teacher email. Teachers, please submit a master list of all students names and details.

In-Person Art Submission
Please drop your piece at Temple Beth Or Synagogue,  5275 Marshall Rd, Dayton OH 45429. Please call (937) 435-3400 to confirm their hours for drop off. A word processed entry form must accompany the art piece. Teachers must provide a master submission list of student name, title of piece, grade and school.

Submission Deadline
All Art submissions must be received in person. Writing submissions can be received digitally. All submissions must be received by Monday, March 27, 2023-Friday, March 31, 2023 by noon. All contest winners and their teachers will be notified by email. All students, teachers and family members are invited to attend the Yom Hashoah program on Sunday, April 23, 2023.

Resources

2023 Entry Form