Art Exhibition to Benefit Cherkasy, Ukraine

Art Exhibition to Benefit Cherkasy, Ukraine

Sunny Flowers by Artist, Emily Weil

Approximately 50 artists from all over the Bay Area will come together on April 24, 2022 for a unique art exhibition in Alameda to benefit Cherkasy, Ukraine. The art exhibit will be held from 5-8pm at the Preacher’s Daughter Cafe on Park Street.

The artists will be featuring their rendition of sunflowers, which is the national flower of Ukraine. The medium will run the gamut, from watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings, to pencil drawings, ceramics, jewelry, paper-crafts and photography. Featured artists include students from U.C. Berkeley Extension, Alex D. da Silva, Yasmin Hussain, Charley Paff, Emma Gimon, Paul Lee, Clancy Hickinbotham and Carmen Reid. Other participating Bay Area artists include Nancy Brandt, Katherine Rice, Elizabeth Bek-Navarova, Joen Barbera, Chantal Currid, Ros Harper, Olive Little, Kris Warrenburg, Britney Schrag, Emily Weil, Flavia Krasilchik, Kat Kaldis, Eileen Wilson, Isabela Reid, Marcia Gill, Patty Ferrari, Devon Westerholm, Jerome Szymczak, Alana Dill, Lynn LaRocca, Margaret Fago, Olivia Knight, Deanna Quilalang, and Alameda art teachers Hazel Seiden, Kate Meade and SJND longtime art teacher Mark Ritter.

Artist, Kris Warrenburg

The exhibition will also give amateur artists an opportunity to showcase their art. Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda and Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland have donated to this event, allowing their students to contribute to the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

The art pieces will vary in cost, giving every budget an opportunity to contribute to the fundraiser.

The most powerful images will be those created by middle school children from Ukraine. The art exhibit will showcase approximately 15-20 images of how they currently view their world. Some paintings feature sunflowers and hope, while others show the horrors of war and the children’s plea for peace. These images can be purchased individually and in the form of notecards.

Artist, Jerome Szymczak

For more information on the special event, https://sunflowersofukraine.org/


Sidebar:

Since February 24th I have been watching Ukraine, my home country, be torn apart and witnessing a massive and unprecedented humanitarian crisis unfold.

I was born and raised in Cherkasy, Ukraine. Cherkasy is a quiet and scenic town on the Dnieper River between Kyiv and Odesa.  Fortunately, at least through the first month of the war, it has been spared from most of the missiles and shelling.  As a result, it has been used heavily by the Ukrainian government as a safe haven to send refugees, mostly women, children and elders, and wounded soldiers.

Santa Rosa is a sister city of Cherkasy and the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa has worked to establish a direct line to the Rotary Club of Cherkasy where it would be able to transfer donated funds for humanitarian purposes.  After the Rotary Club of Cherkasy receives the funds, it will immediately distribute the funds to the Cherkasy Regional Hospital and other areas that are safeguarding refugees.

Funds will be used to purchase a variety of medical and humanitarian supplies, such as water, baby food, diapers, tissue, anti-bacterial wipes, blood-stopping medication, antibiotics, tourniquets, insulin, and blood pressure medication.  These supplies will go to primarily two constituents:

  1. Multiple hospitals in Cherkasy that are now taking on a significant number of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and members of the Territorial Defense Unit, in addition to treating injured residents and a growing number of refugees
  2. Refugees from cities like Kharkiv, Kherson and Mariupol that are staying in Cherkasy permanently or using Cherkasy as a transfer point to Lviv

The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa is focused on giving back to the community and they have established a special, unique fund to take in donations specifically for the people of Ukraine. 100% of the proceeds from the Art Fundraiser will be going directly to the special Ukraine fund that has been set up by the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa.

 My father and mother are both doctors who have worked in Cherkasy hospitals for over 30+ years and my father is a founding member of the Cherkasy Rotary Club. He is conducting daily calls to coordinate the purchase and distribution of supplies and to make sure they are being put to good use.  He will be sending pictures and videos and we will make a point to collect images or videos of the local Cherkasy team deploying the funds to where they are most urgently needed so that these can be shared by the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa.