stand with ukraine

As a Ukrainian-born American, my life and the lives of my family changed greatly with the start of the war in Ukraine in the winter of 2022. Our culture and our language are cherished and integral parts of our lives. So when an unjust attack on Ukraine threatened both our culture and our language, Ukrainians everywhere started doing everything in their power to defend the land where we were born and protest the war.

For my own part, at first it seemed difficult to figure out what I can do to help. However, it turned out that art can be extremely powerful in creating a movement and inspiring others to help.

In March of 2022, just a couple of weeks after the war started, I had created a “Stand with Ukraine” design for a rally I helped to plan. My hand-painted poster of the design was noticed by everyone and eventually inspired a shirt fundraiser on Bonfire that helped to raise over $30k for a non-profit Revived Soldiers Ukraine, then a lawn sign fundraiser that raised another $10k, and then it all culminated in me being asked to paint a mural of the same design (reworked to fit the wall) in Pennsylvania.

This mural is meaningful to me and it felt surreal being able to paint it where thousands of people would see it daily and be reminded of the fact that Ukraine still needs our help and be inspired to act.