JCC East Bay Sukkah Design Competition

The JCC East Bay invites local installation artists to design and build an innovative, usable, site-specific sukkah for the organization's courtyard. Sukkot is a weeklong Jewish festival celebrated each fall that commemorates the harvest and the 40 years the Jewish people spent in the desert after leaving slavery. The traditional ritual involves building and living in a sukkah, a temporary dwelling made from natural materials. Artists should use their creativity to reimagine the sukkah while remaining true to traditional guidelines.

The sukkah will be constructed and displayed in the JCC East Bay's courtyard (46'x48'). The minimum footprint should be 23'x24' and the maximum 46'x48'. Walls must be at least 4' high and no taller than 10' high, with at least two full walls and part of a third wall. The roof must be made of natural material no longer attached to the earth, with enough covering to create more shade than sun during the day but not too much to hide the stars at night. The sukkah must be designed to be constructed in no more than 4 days and components must be readily deconstructed and stored for future use. Walls must be stable enough to withstand ordinary wind and supported without damage to the facility using temporary attachment tools only.

Eligibility is limited to local Bay Area installation artists who must be available to construct the sukkah between October 13-16, 2016. Teams of artists may apply together. The winner will receive $2,500 in prize money and $3,000 in materials budget. Submissions require 1-5 images and must be received by August 19, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. MDT. Entry fee is $25. The winner will be announced September 9, 2016, and the sukkah will be used during Sukkot programs October 16-23, 2016.