ACF Art Competition Winners

Date: March 4, 2020

Talented Assyrian artists from across the world participate in our annual Art Competition. Each year, Assyrian artists are invited to submit original pieces in any two-dimensional medium, excluding photography. Art submitted to the competition is reviewed by an independent panel of expert jurors to ensure a fair and balanced judgement process. Prizes are awarded to the artists whose work best represent the theme. 

2020 FIRST PLACE WINNER
RENI STEPHAN

2020 SECOND PLACE WINNER
QAIS AL-SINDY

2020 THIRD PLACE WINNER
MAHER MINYANISH 

2020 HONORABLE MENTION
ATRA GIVARKES 

2020 HONORABLE MENTION
AGNES ISHAK

2019 Grand Prize Winner

“Languages and Colors” by Paul Batou

2019 Second Place Winner

“Sun Star” by Atra Givarkes

2019 Third Place Winner

“Noohara” by Agnes Ishak 

2019 Honorable Mention

“Equestrian” by Qais Al-Sindy

2019 Honorable Mention

“Untitled” by Jelbert Karami

2018 Grand Prize Winner

“Untitled” by Agnes Ishak 

2018 Second Place Winner

“Untitled” by Qais Al-Sindy 

2018 Third Place Winner

“Untitled” by Maher Minyanish

2018 Honorable Mention

“Untitled” by Nahrin Malki

2018 Honorable Mention

“Untitled” by Aeluna Nissan 

2017 Grand Prize Winner

“Assyrian Folklore” by John Malk

2017 Second Place Winner

“The End” by Atra Givarkes

2017 Third Place Winner

“Old Woman Portrait” by Maher Minyanish

2017 Honorable Mention

“Freedom” by Noryana Kazzo

2017 Honorable Mention

“Winter Massacre” by Victoria Akhteebo

How-to: Our Adorable Thanksgiving Shoot

Date: November 30, 2016

Another year, another Thanksgiving. Whether your family served turkey, or went the traditional Assyrian route—serving dolma and the likes instead—you’re probably all out of leftovers, and chances are you’ve already got your tree up. But before we fully shift gears into Christmas mode, we want to share with you our adorable Thanksgiving photo shoot. If you haven’t seen the photos yet, check out our post. The children you see pictured are students of our music and art programs.

The results were adorable, and we got such great feedback from parents. Our photo booth was so effortless, we decided we’d share a quick how-to. This is a simple and fun way to capture memories at your next family event or birthday party.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  • Camera (your iPhone camera will do)
  • Tri-fold board (any color, but we went with orange for Thanksgiving)
  • Small chalkboard
  • Chalk
  • Chalk eraser (napkins work fine)
  • Tape (or glue)
  • Scissors
  • Glue gun (optional)
  • Prop printouts (optional)
  • Bamboo skewers (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS: 

  1. The tri-fold board will serve as your backdrop. If you’d like to include any text/images, it’s easy to do. Given that ours was a Thanksgiving shoot, we went with the text, “I am thankful for.” You can easily swap the text for a different phrase—”Happy Birthday Sargon!” for example. We printed the text, rolled up bits of tape and stuck them on the back of the letters to attach them to the board. You can choose to glue instead, but taping allows you to remove the letters should you wish to reuse the board. Also, using tape allows you flexibility if you realize you need to reposition the letters. Tri-fold boards are available anywhere that school supplies are sold, but if you’d like a specific color, chances are Michael’s or a Constructive Playthings Store will have a wider variety.
  2. We set up our tri-fold board on a table and had the kids sit in front of it. Each child was asked what they’re thankful for, and we jotted it down on the chalkboard for them. They then simply posed with the chalkboard as we snapped some photos. You don’t need to be a professional to get a great shot. We bought our chalkboard from Michael’s for $5, but there are always tons in the Target dollar section.
  3. In addition the chalkboard message, we decided to incorporate photo booth props. You can find tons of options on Etsy or at your local Party City for sale, but if you’ve got the time and the soda, you can easily make them yourself. We spent some time googling clip art images (for our Thanksgiving shoot, we went with: turkey, pumpkin, pie, pilgrim hat, fall leaf, corn, ties, a bow-tie/bow, and mustaches—which were hands down the most popular), copied and pasted them into a Word document, and hit print. Our only recommendation here is that you try to find clip art that are similar in theme/style. We printed our images on card-stock, and then laminated them for good measure. Using a glue gun, attach one bamboo skewer to each prop to act as the holder. If you don’t have a glue gun handy, several strips of tape should do the job.

ADDITIONAL TIPS: 

  • Don’t worry about getting the perfect shot. You can always crop later.

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