2009 Cleveland Arts Prize Winners
Lifetime Achievement Award: Mort Epstein

Mort Epstein, who celebrated his 92nd birthday on May 25, 2009, has been producing engaging designs and works of art for more than seven decades. An exhibit and companion book, Mort Epstein: Sixty Nine Years of Design at Ninety, chronicles the evolution of Epstein’s visual style from the 1940s through the 1980s in hundreds of logos, annual reports, book designs, furniture, wood trimmings, and murals for corporate, industrial, and not-for-profit organizations.  A native of New York and a graduate of the Cooper Union School of Art, Epstein moved to Cleveland after WWII and worked in various design jobs, until founding his own firm, Epstein Design, in 1962.

The 49th Annual Awards Event was held on June 25, 2009, at the Hanna Theater, where the 2009 Cleveland Arts Prize winners received their medals.  We are so proud that Mort Epstein, a long-time congregant of Beth Israel, received a Lifetime Achievement Award.  Mazel Tov to Mort!