TEL AVIV.- The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Foundation, which has been awarding an annual prize of approximately $120,000 to two artists since 2006, has decided, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, to reconfigure the prize this year as a dedicated $250,000 fund for the purchase of art works.

The art works will be purchased for the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Israeli Art Collection at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, which comprises works by Rappaport Award winners over the years, and will be on display at a special exhibition to be opened at the Museum in August 2021.

In addition, this year the Foundation has decided to fund a group exhibition of contemporary Israeli art that will be open to the general public outside the Museum, in the public sphere.

The exhibition, titled Outside the Cube, will feature dozens of local artists, who will exhibit at various venues and areas throughout the city of Tel Aviv–Yafo, from May 21 through June 3, 2021.

The works of 58 Israeli artists will be purchased by a dedicated acquisition fund that has been established this year instead of the Rappaport Prize. A total of 1,850 portfolios have been submitted to the fund, containing thousands of works. The fund’s initial budget was set at $150,000, but in light of the overwhelming response from the artistic community in Israel and the high quality of submissions, the Rappaport Foundation has decided to increase it to $250,000 – double the annual award budget – in a bid to support as many artists as possible.




In 2006, the Rappaport Foundation established an annual award that is given to two Israeli artists – an established artist and an emerging one. Every year, solo exhibitions of the award winners are held at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in keeping with Ruth and Bruce Rappaport’s vision and commitment to cultivate and promote Israeli culture, the Foundation has decided to increase its support, and reconfigure the award.

Members of the Acquisition Fund Committee: Tania Coen-Uzzielli, Director of Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Dalit Matatyahu, Senior Curator of Israeli Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Anat Danon Sivan, Curator of Israeli Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Drora Domini, Artist, Winner of the Rappaport Award for Established Artist for 2020; Irith Rappaport, Chair of Sotheby’s Israel; Rivka Saker, Chair of Artis; and Yifat Gurion, Curator and Co-Founder of the Fresh Paint art fair.

Irith Rappaport: “The Rappaport family’s commitment to culture and art began over fifty years ago, when my parents, the late Ruth and Bruce Rappaport, understood and instilled in us the value of culture and art as an engine for growth, prosperity, and social change. At this time in particular, when we all face the challenges presented by COVID-19, I am proud to have the opportunity to be part of my parents’ legacy, and see how the Foundation they established continues their mission by choosing to increase its support for artists in light of the situation. It is my sincere hope that the ripples of assistance that is now given to dozens of artists will be a source of inspiration, and enable all active artists in Israel to continue to create and enrich our lives, particularly in these difficult times. As Chair of the global Friends of Tel Aviv Museum, I look with pride upon the wonderful way in which the Museum has dealt with the pandemic, and hope that the coming years will bring prosperity and cultural growth to us all.”

Tania Coen-Uzzielli, Director of Tel Aviv Museum of Art: “In a year when the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, like other cultural institutions, has been obliged to close its doors to visitors, and the very holding of exhibitions at physical venues was cast into doubt, it was decided to reconfigure the Rappaport Prize for 2021, and adapt it to the present needs. I thank the Rappaport Foundation for its commitment and mobilization to boost its support for the Israeli art community. The COVID-19 epidemic has had an adverse impact on the conditions faced by artists, with many of them having to give up workspaces, or to have their exhibitions postponed or canceled. Our excitement and delight at the Foundation’s decision and at the prospective additions to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art’s permanent collection of quality works, is tempered by the recognition that we have had to make some difficult decisions, and forgo some works by several very worthy artists. The new acquisitions fund this year will nevertheless echo the traditional division of the award and its support for established and emerging artists, and make a significant contribution to the Israeli art field.”

Dalit Matatyahu, Senior Curator of Israeli Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art: “For the first time in many years, the Rappaport Foundation’s generous support has made possible a large-scale acquisition process. We see in this moment an invitation for a renewed – indeed, panoramic – view of Israeli art at the Museum. We were driven by the aspiration to provide a venue for diverse artistic and personal sensitivities, some of which have yet to be represented in the collection. We are thrilled by the dozens of works we have purchased, which are just some of the hundreds of wonderful works submitted. I thank the Rappaport Foundation for its generosity and partnership in this significant initiative.”

As part of the Rappaport Award’s reconfiguration this year, in response to the need to expand the Museum’s physical boundaries and to make them more flexible, it has decided to fully fund a group exhibition of Israeli art in the public sphere. The exhibition, titled Outside the Cube, and curated by Ventilator – a traveling exhibition venue established by the artist Ishai Shapira Kalter – will be on view to passers-by at several sites throughout Tel Aviv–Yafo for twelve days and nights, from May 21 through June 3, 2021. The exhibition will feature over twenty local artists, who will improvise their creative work in their natural habitat – in the public arena: in residential areas, rented spaces, and hotels, on roofs of buildings and balconies, and in the yards of apartment buildings.

The artists whose works will be purchased by the Rappaport Fund for the Museum’s collection: Etti Abergel, Hadeel Abu Johar, Karim Abu Shakra, Lea Avital, Asad Azi, Sagie Azoulay, Sharon Balaban, Eden Bannet, Yael Burstein, Roy Chohen, Nurit David, Yasmin Davis, Ruti de Vries, Aniam Dery, Bracha L. Ettinger, Nir Evron, Pinhas Ezra, Ohad Fishof & Noa Zuk, Mark Glezin, Ido Gordon, Noa Gur, Majdi Halabi, Omer Halperin, Harel Nir, Michal Heiman, Michal Helfman, Eti Jacobi, Israel Kabala, Merav Kamel & Halil Balabin, Haviv Kaptzon, Gabriella Klein, Gabi Kricheli, Abraham Kritzman, Harel Luz, Assi Meshullam, Uriel Miron, Efrat Natan, Karam Natour, Galia Hili Pasternak, Eli Petel, Avner Pinchover, Shimon Pinto, Tchelet Ram, Batya (Dorothy) Redzinger, Elham Rokni, Elena Rotenberg, Naama Roth, Avi Sabah, Sala-Manca Group, Ester Schneider, Malachi Sgan-Cohen, Nardeen Srouji, Roni Taharlev, Igael Tumarkin, Izabella Volovnik, Yoav Weinfeld, Amnon Wolman, Tal Yerushalmi.