Ten semi-finalists were chosen to be on display at the first Maneschewitz Matzo Sculpture Competition. One duo included Erica Frankel, originally from Snellville, Georgia. She is active on campus as a part of KESHER: Reform Jews at NYU and is a second-year dance major at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. How did she get so far in the competition, and how did she do? Below are her responses with CampusJ in a recent e-mail interview:
How did you hear about the competition? What exactly was involved?
I heard about the competition through the Bronfman Center listerv emails. Also, Lisa Heilbronner [NYU Hillel’s Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow] encouraged [my friend,] Leia Weil and I to do it, as did Jackie [Miller, AVODA Arts Fellow at the Bronfman Center], who was in charge of coordinating it. We had to submit a proposal which included a diagram, description of how we would build it, and how our sculpture related to the theme of “home.”
Then 10 semi-finalists were chosen to actually BUILD their proposed sculptures.
Why did you decide to participate? What was your building/constructing experience like?
The 1000 dollar grand prize was a nice incentive, but it also sounded like an absolute blast, which it was. Leia and I used the matzo that was donated by Manischevitz to create our sculpture and spent hours perfecting it! We also watched “Borat” during the construction—making it the ultimate Jew experience.
What did you make and why and how did you decide? What was this evening’s event like?
We made a replica of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and we invited people to submit their own notes of prayer to our wall. Once Passover is over, we hope to mail the prayers to Leia’s sister in Jerusalem. The evening was so much grander than I expected. It was a lovely reception, since it was also the gallery opening for the Bronfman Center’s new “Home and Away” exhibit, and there were people from the press all over the place. Although we didn’t win, we were thrilled to have been part of this experience!
In an informal conversation, you mentioned winning something although it wasn’t official…
What exactly did you say you won?
[T]hey didn’t give us any title, but I would certainly like to think that Leia and I achieved “eternal matzoh glory!”