Rywkind–Ben Zour Prize for Graduates of the Master’s Program in Fine Arts at Bezalel Academy in Collaboration with the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is the first of its kind in the Israeli academic scene. Its objective is to nurture, strengthen and support students at a pivotal moment in their careers as they embark on their independent journeys as active artists. The Prize encourages excellence in contemporary art, with an emphasis on originality and innovative creation. It is awarded to foster the personal, artistic, and professional development of the graduating class of the Master’s Program in Fine Arts at Bezalel Academy.

The vision of the Prize’s founders, Iris Rywkind and Eran Ben Zour, centers on a unique collaboration between two of Israel’s oldest, most significant, prestigious and internationally renowned art institutions: The Master’s Program in Fine Arts at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. For the donors, this Prize also offers an opportunity to strengthen, promote and encourage the link between academia and the museum sector in Israel.

A team of curators from the Tel Aviv Museum will serve as the judging committee, visiting the annual Bezalel Master’s Program graduate exhibition and reviewing the portfolios of all graduates. This process not only deepens and expands the professional discourse between the Museum’s curators and the Program’s graduates, it exposes the current generation of artists and their work to the local and international art scene.

The Iris Rywkind and Eran Ben Zour Prize for Graduates of the Master’s Program in Fine Arts at Bezalel includes a monetary award of 40,000 NIS, as well as the selection of an artwork from the winning graduate to be included in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art’s permanent collection. The selected work will be exhibited at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art as part of a group exhibition, the Israeli Art permanent exhibition or in a solo exhibition, within three years of receiving the Prize.