Kharkiv children create painting in metro station for Artist’s Day

This was reported by an Ukrinform correspondent.

Sixteen students worked on the collaborative painting, using dry pastels. The children worked on the two-meter canvas (120 by 205 cm) for about two and a half hours.

“We’re celebrating Artist’s Day like this because children miss in-person interactions and gatherings. The idea came up to meet in a safe space — the metro is that safe space today. The children came to express their creative ideas, to show how they see the world and how they feel. This is an art therapy event. Both children and parents in the city are under constant stress, and we hope that the city’s residents will enjoy the result of their creativity,” said Alla Blyzniukova, Deputy Director for Educational Work at Kharkiv Children's Art School No. 1, named after Repin.

The children worked on a segmented sheet, with a symbolic sun in the center surrounded by drawings in spectrum colors, leading to darker, black-and-white images.

Moreover, an exhibition was opened displaying works by children from all art departments across Kharkiv’s art schools who are currently studying abroad. Throughout the summer, the drawings were sent to Kharkiv from Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Cyprus, and France.

Blyzniukova noted that, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression, the number of students in their institution has halved.

“We had many preparatory groups. Unfortunately, we now have around 400 students in total. Many children have left. Some are now in America, Canada, and cannot continue due to time zone differences. We are managing with remote classes. I have students in Europe, in Ireland, and in other regions of Ukraine. Despite the war and the challenging security situation in Kharkiv, there is still a wide range of art materials available, such as paper and paints. So, we sometimes buy supplies for students and send them by mail within Ukraine and even abroad,” explained the deputy director.

According to Blyzniukova, next week the children’s exhibition will be moved to the nearby ‘Historical Museum' metro station, where it will remain for at least two weeks.

As previously reported, an exhibition featuring over 200 abstract and classical paintings, sculptures, and graphics by Ukrainian artists has opened at the Central House of Artists in Kyiv.