Just three months after the unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine started, the Coral Gables Museum presented an exhibition of paintings made in the city of Kyiv during the period leading to Ukrainian independence. The objective was to remind visitors of what the brave Ukrainian soldiers were fighting for: their freedom, their right to exist as people, and their sense of belonging to a place they called home. 

We partnered with the Barry University School of Education, Leadership and Human Development’s Seeds of Hope Program, a student-led initiative that provides social, emotional, and educational support to displaced Ukrainian children as they grapple with the reality of having fled their war-torn country. In November of 2022,  we offered a workshop introducing to the program’s participants how art can be healing. The Education Department values art’s ability to provide an outlet to express oneself and process difficult events. This partnership with Seeds of Hope extends the museum’s commitment to promoting the civic and humanistic values embodied in this rightful struggle. We serve our community better by supporting an exemplary community with whom we share such values.

This exhibition comprises the works created by the children during the workshop, which included a gallery tour of Painting in Excess: Kyiv’s Art Revival 1985-1993, followed by artmaking and mindfulness movement sessions at the museum.

Developed in collaboration with