A showing of the top-placing entries from the first 25 years of one of the country’s oldest and largest student art and writing contests focused on the Holocaust is coming to the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University from April 17 to July 31, 2024.

“Messengers of Memory: A 25-Year Retrospective of the Chapman University Annual Holocaust Art & Writing Contest” will feature 75 total pieces, including artworks, excerpts of written works, and short films honoring Holocaust survivors and the enduring significance of their memories for a new generation. The exhibit includes student works that were awarded first place in the annual competition launched in 1999.  

The retrospective is the first public exhibition to occupy the Hilbert Museum’s new Burra Family Community Room, which was added during the museum’s expansion to 22,000 sq. ft. and debuted earlier this year. An invitation-only opening reception will be held on April 16 in the new Janet Hilbert Arts Courtyard, flanking the museum’s North and South wings.

According to Marilyn Harran, director of the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education at Chapman University, which sponsors the contest, winning entries from students attending 84 middle and high schools in 52 cities and 11 states in the U.S. and two other countries are represented in the show. Visitors can view student artworks and excerpts of submitted prose and poetry and watch up to 12 student films on a video loop. In its 25-year history, the annual contest has reached some 150,000 students and 2,000 educators in the U.S. and 24 other countries.

“The 25^th anniversary of the Holocaust Art & Writing Contest highlights Chapman University’s remarkable, sustained commitment to furthering knowledge of the Holocaust and empowering young people to translate knowledge into action,” said Harran. “The hope is that the contest and this very special retrospective at the Hilbert Museum are helping to create a society free of bigotry, racism, and antisemitism.

The 25th edition of the Chapman University Annual Holocaust Art & Writing Contest asked students to submit works under the theme “Answering the Call of Memory: Choosing to Act.” A March 15 awards ceremony featured Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, a Chapman University Presidential Fellow who survived genocide and sexual enslavement at the hands of ISIS.

Founded and funded through the ongoing generosity of Mark and Janet Hilbert, the Hilbert Museum is home to one of the world’s largest collections of California narrative art and among the largest private collections of animation and movie art. A recent multiyear expansion resulted in a striking two-building complex offering 26 galleries for rotating displays of the more than 5,000 oils, watercolors, illustrations, drawings, and more in the Hilbert Collection, plus a café, community room, research library, an outdoor courtyard and native gardens that create a new front door to the museum.

The museum reopened in February 2024 with nine exhibitions showcasing the museum’s focus on California Scene paintings (narrative scenes of California life in watercolor or oils from the 1930s to the present), plus its rich holdings in animation and movie art, Native American art and American illustration and design. Among the opening shows are those featuring Millard Sheets, Disney’s Mary Blair, Norman Rockwell, and acclaimed Chicano artist Emigidio Vasquez, as well as vintage radios, Navajo weavings, and examples of California modernism.

A special exhibition showcases various artists’ interpretations of Orange County. Exhibitions will change and rotate several times per year.

“Messengers of Memory: A 25-Year Retrospective of the Chapman University Annual Holocaust Art & Writing Contest” opens April 17 and is available for viewing from 10am to 5pm Tuesdays through Saturdays. The museum is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Admission is free for all audiences, continuing a promise that Mark and Janet Hilbert made when the original Hilbert Museum debuted in 2016 to keep The Hilbert Collection as accessible to the public as possible. Due to demand, advance online reservations are recommended.

For details on Hilbert Museum exhibitions and events, visit https://hilbertmuseum.org/.  For information on the ongoing work at the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education at Chapman University, visit https://www.chapman.edu/research/institutes-and-centers/holocaust-education/rodgers-center/index.aspx.

The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University, in Orange, Calif., was founded in 2016 by art collectors and philanthropists Mark and Janet Hilbert with their gift of artwork and funds to open a new museum and is home to one of the world’s largest collections of California narrative art. It also holds the distinction of being the only museum in the world committed to tracing the rich, iconic history of the Golden State from the late 1800s to the present through works by leading California artists and Hollywood studio artists and animators.

The Hilbert Museum recently completed a three-year expansion that tripled the space for museum operations and rotating displays of the more than 5,000 oils, watercolors, illustrations, drawings, pieces of movie production art, and more from the Hilbert Collection. The new, 22,000-sq.-ft., two-building ensemble on the original museum site now offers 26 separate galleries for works by Millard Sheets, Emil Kosa, Jr., Mary Blair, David Hockney, Wayne Thiebaud, Phil Dike, Milford Zornes and Rex Brandt, among many others. There is also a new café, community room, outdoor courtyard, research library, and new galleries devoted to one of the largest private collections of Disney and other animation art, works by American illustrators, Native American arts, and American design.

The Hilbert Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is free for all visitors, and advance reservations are strongly encouraged.

For more information, visit www.hilbertmuseum.org.

The Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education offers a diverse program in Holocaust history and education, making it a standout among private universities in the United States. In addition to academic offerings in the Department of History at Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, the Center enriches students’ academic experience with a distinctive co-curricular program. The program allows esteemed scholars, visionary filmmakers, inspiring Holocaust survivors, and advocates for justice and human rights to share their insights and stories. The Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library, with permanent and rotating exhibits, sheds light on the individual lives affected and tragically lost during the Holocaust, featuring photographs, documents, oral histories, and a notable collection that includes a first edition of The Diary of Anne Frank in Dutch, along with reference materials supporting Holocaust research in its historical context.

Chapman University, founded in 1861, is a nationally ranked private university based in Orange, Calif., thirty miles southeast of Los Angeles. Chapman’s campus draws outstanding students from across the nation and worldwide. Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs – including film, science, engineering, business, economics, law, education, humanities, and performing arts – Chapman encompasses eleven schools and colleges across its two campuses. Named as one of the top universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review, Chapman enrolls nearly 10,000 undergraduate, graduate, and law students and employs over 1,500 faculty and staff. For more information, visit https://www.chapman.edu/about/index.aspx.