Happy Chanukah! Chanukah Art Contest goes digital with online voting
‘Latke Road’ by Danielle Freiden is the People’s Choice Award winner for 2019. (Denise Elam)A string art menorah by sisters Aviya and Noya Matta won the Judges’ Grand Prize in the 2019 Chanukah Art Contest. (Denise Elam)This year there were two winners chosen in the 23rd-annual Chanukah Art Contest, sponsored by Chabad of Leawood, The Jewish Community Center (The J) and The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. Danielle Freiden’s “Latke Road” painting (shown at left) won the first ever People’s Choice Award, chosen through online voting by members of the Kansas City Jewish community. A string creation of a menorah, submitted by sisters Aviya and Noya Matta, won the judges’ grand prize. Each grand prize winning entry was awarded a $100 gift card. Judges also chose first-place winners in the three age divisions.All the entries are on display in the glass gallery in the lobby of the Jewish Community Campus until Jan. 3. For the first time ever, a People’s Choice Award category allowed voters in the Kansas City Jewish community to choose one of the grand prize winners in the annual Chanukah Art Contest. A total of 349 people took part in the online voting for the People’s Choice Award winner of the 23rd annual Chanukah Art Contest, sponsored by Chabad of Leawood, The Jewish Community Center (The J) and The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.“It was fantastic so many people voted online,” said The J’s Director of Family Engagement Stacey Belzer.Chabad’s Rabbi Mendy Wineberg added, “We hope the popularity of the online voting will increase our entries next year.” Overall, more than 20 students in grades pre-K through eight submitted entries for the 2019 contest. All entrants are invited to attend Chabad’s annual Chanukah on Ice party, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, at The Ice at Park Place.As in years past, decorative menorahs were the predominate choice of the young artists. In fact, four of the five winning artists in this year’s contest submitted creative menorahs.“The menorah is certainly the most recognized symbol of Chanukah,” Rabbi Wineberg explained. “The light of the candles signifies the triumph of light over darkness. Lighting the menorah also publicizes the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days instead of just one, which allowed the Maccabees time to rededicate the Holy Temple and its altar after it had been desecrated by the pagan invaders.”Judges’ Grand PrizeA menorah created out of nails and strings by sisters Aviya (11) and Noya (9) Matta caught the judges’ eyes and was a near unanimous choice as the grand prize winner. The Matta sisters will share a $100 gift card for their efforts. They collaborated last year also, winning their age division.The string menorah was Aviya’s idea because she thinks string art looks cool and had always wanted to make something using that technique. “I searched for pictures of string art to inspire me,” Aviya said. The girls needed their father’s assistance to drill holes in the wood for the nails. Then they put the nails in the holes and wound the string around the nails to make their creation. It took the girls several hours to create their string art menorah.“Putting down the nails was the hardest part,” Aviya said, adding they chose a black background because it made the colors of the string stand out better. Noya added the splattered white paint in the background to make it look like stars.“Wrapping the string around the nails was the most fun part,” Aviya said.The daughters of Orit and Benji Matta, both girls attend Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy (HBHA) and are Israeli and Canadian. They have been in the Kansas City community for four years while Dr. Benji Matta is doing a nephrology fellowship at Children’s Mercy Hospital. The family often attends BIAV.Aviya and Noya entered the contest because they love art and, they said, “art is their favorite thing to do.”People’s Choice AwardThe painting “Latke Road,” created by 9-year-old Danielle Freiden, captured the hearts of the online voters. A third-grader at The Barstow School who attends The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah and its religious school, Danielle told The Chronicle she loves art.This isn’t the first time Danielle has won an art contest. A piece of her artwork hangs in the principal’s office at her school. Her art is also featured on a laminated bookmark available at her school’s library.“Latke Road” features a tree, symbolizing the Tree of Life, a road paved with latkes leading to a home, a menorah near the moon in the sky and an angel.“The menorah is by the moon because it shines brighter than the moon, like a giant star,” Danielle explained. “We also had an angel coming to the house. I think the angel is going to grant some wishes.”It took Danielle about a week to create her painting. Her winning entry earns her a $100 gift card.Gracie Brazer’s menorah won the pre-K through first grade division. (Denise Elam)Pre-K through First Grade DivisionEach division winner will be presented with a $50 gift card. All gifts cards for the Chanukah Art Contests are supplied by Chabad.Gracie Brazer’s creation won the Pre-K through First Grade Division. The daughter of Anna Kopit and Scott Brazer, Gracie was excited when she learned her floral 3D menorah on cardboard was a winner.“She was jumping up and down and super excited when she got the news,” her mother reported. “She said, ‘Mama, I’ve never won anything before. This is so cool.’ ”Gracie is a 6-year-old first-grader at HBHA. Her entry was originally a class project. The assignment was to make a menorah out of any materials you already had at home.“When we heard about the Chanukah Art Contest, we asked the teacher if we could submit it for the contest and she was very much in favor of that,” Kopit said.Members of The Shul-Chabad of Leawood, Gracie’s mother described herself as “very crafty,” which gave her daughter the budding artist a lot of materials to choose from for the project. She chose flowers left over from her birthday party, which were cut using a Cricut machine, to use as the base of the menorah. Clothespins serve as the candles with cellophane as flames. Dreidels and gelt complete the Chanukah-themed artwork.Noah Muller’s ‘Happy Hanukkah’ poster won the second through fifth grade division. (Denise Elam)Second through Fifth Grade DivisionNoah Muller, who celebrated his 11th birthday this week and is a fifth-grader at Oak Park Carpenter Elementary School, may have inherited some of his artistic talents from his grandmother, Shari Baellow, who likes to craft, and her father, the late Eugene Lebovitz, who was a tailor and created tapestries and other pieces of art. “My grandma Shari and I came up with the idea together,” Noah said. A student at Congregation Beth Shalom’s religious school, he was motivated to enter the contest because he “participated last year, and I really wanted to try and win this year!”The judges were intrigued by his use of pool noodles as candles on his “Happy Hanukkah” poster. “My grandma had some pool noodles and we thought that would make a cool menorah,” Noah said. Noah said it took about three or four hours to make the project, including the time it took to cut the noodles for the candles.The son of Rachel and Shawn Muller, Noah said he would like to become a cartoonist when he grows up.Eli Maker’s ‘Kansas City’ menorah won the sixth through eighth grade division. (Denise Elam)Sixth through Eighth Grade DivisionEli Maker is a repeat winner in the sixth through eighth grade division. He has created entries in multiple years and won this division last year. His brother, Shia Kolb, is also a past Chanukah Art Contest winner.A 14-year-old eighth-grader at Lakewood Middle School, he said he has always loved creating entries for this contest.“It is sad for me because this is my last time to enter,” Eli said. “I just love making the art.”The son of Stephanie Kolb and Joshua Maker, Eli became a Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Beth Torah and attends its TAG program. He loves living in the Kansas City area, so he used that as his inspiration for his Kansas City-themed menorah. A big Chiefs fan, he chose a Chiefs helmet as the anchor for the shamash. His love of the Royals, the County Club Plaza, Union Station and the Shuttlecocks at The Nelson are also featured on the menorah.“Those are my favorite places and things to do in Kansas City,” he said.As always, Rabbi Wineberg was impressed by all the entries, not just the winners.“The creations showed anything can be turned into a piece of art and a piece of beauty,” Rabbi Wineberg said.The following students submitted entries:Pre-K-first grade:Gracie Brazer Liam GordonYarden MattaDavid MyronShaya SosoverWeston TankardSecond-fifth grades:Brooklyn BirnbaumDanielle FreidenAva GordonMaher GordonZalman ItkinShia KolbShalev MattaNoah MullerAri NatenbergTeddy NatenbergLogan NichollsClara SosoverGolda Sosover Menachem Sosover Sixth-eighth grades:Eli MakerNoya Matta (fourth grade) and Aviya MattaNigri ShluchimSroly SosoverChanukah On Ice party set for SundayChabad is hosting its annual Chanukah on Ice party from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, at The Ice at Park Place. Skate to Chanukah music and enjoy hot cocoa and fresh sufganiyot. Join the lighting of the 6-foot Menorah with music and singing. Admission is free; $10 to skate.
