“What happens when the animals move north?”

Fermata arts Foundation next program is scheduled for June 14, 2025, at 10 am in the Torrington Publlic Library, Torrington, CT

“Let’s Build a Roof over the World”: DRAWING AS A STORYTELLER”

April 23, 2025

Fermata Arts Foundation Program in the Forbush Memorial Library, Westminster, MA

Art Workshop:

Observations for the Fermata Arts Foundation Art Workshop on 04/23/25 in the Forbush Memorial Library, Westminster, MA

by Ekaterina Synkova,
workshop assistant,
Fermata Arts Foundation volunteer

The workshop was held in the Forbush Memorial Library on April 23, 2025. The Library was filled with memorial objects of Massachusetts history. There were busts, paintings and statues of men with important positions and their artifacts of their point in time, throughout the library. The drawings of the Fermata Arts Foundation, sent from post-soviet countries had been on the childrens floor. The drawings were from the children in Izyum, Ukraine, before the war. The drawings reflected a deep and interesting perspective of the children. The drawings were quite intriguing because they did not depict any kind of hostility from outward sources. There was one drawing that had been peaceful and colorful, but under the floor there were cracks that drew in bad and negative feelings to the viewer of the drawing. If you look closely, you can catch strands and traces that could have led to the war becoming a reality with Russia. Even the perfect and colorful drawings that the Ukrainian children could be read in an alternative way of perfection. Perhaps it was not perfection at all, only the pretense thereof, only the need for something to be colorful and perfect in the turmoil in the country of Ukraine that was being slowly torn apart and dissected by the outside actor in the geographical area.

For the workshop, we went with a group of six to the second floor, where the columns and architecture had been suitable for the planned instructor by workshop director Sean Cummings. Sean had drawn in workshops plenty along with the children, teaching them how to situate themselves in a room, and draw a picture in relation to their own position in the room. An important thing to consider when drawing in perspective, per Sean’s instruction in the workshop, is to pay attention to which things are larger, or in contrast, smaller to their own surroundings. An important thing to draw while drawing in perspective had been to know the whereabouts of your vanishing point, where it is required of you to find the position for the sake of positional accuracy. A vanishing point is where all the important upper lines, and positioning of your angles vanish into a central place in the middle of a wall, usually. The farther you are from the center, the more important it is for you to factor a vanishing point in.

The guest participation had been very active. The children watched their mother count the square areas on the floor in relation to neighboring area surfaces. The two participating grown-ups seemed very intrigued by the topic of perspective drawing, as well as the children. They were eager to learn, although they greatly relied on the instruction of Sean Cummings. The children finished their drawings well and took them home. The youngest child present was the most open to this way of drawing inside areas of homes/libraries. She constantly asked inquisitively why to do the things she should and was very interested in the outcome. Her name was Celia. Her sisters, Brooklyn and Leila had been also interested in the project, however more hesitant to speak during the first part of the workshop. Later they expressed their thoughts on their future careers, and the youngest might take architecture into question.

The second part of the workshop had been to draw postcards for the children in Ukraine, the pictures of which had been hung in the library for several months. The children had observed the drawings of the children and decided to draw different versions of colorful flowers, reciprocating the display of color and children seen in the drawings of the Ukrainian children.

Information Session:

February 20, 2025

Fermata Art Foundation Program in the South Hadley Public Library, South Hadley, MA:

Art Workshop:

South Hadley Public Library Workshop, “What happens when the animals move north?” Observations by Ekaterina Synkova, Fermata Arts Foundation volunteer.

The Workshop “What happens when animals fly north?” was a Workshop directed by Sean
Cummings on February 20, 2025. Sean Cummings is an architect. The workshop consisted of five children, grades 3rd through 4th grade. As an opening to the workshop, we all drew
drawings for the children in Ukraine. The children saw the display of the Ukrainian pictures and got inspired by the exhibition of foreign animals from desert places. Many of the drawings that the Ukrainian drew were with animals such as tigers, whales and dolphins. It is very interesting that that was the choice of the Ukrainian children. Ukraine is going through great difficulties, so maybe the children reflect this by drawing unrealistic and far away things. Children are capable of creating an accurate representation and reflection of what their society is like. This is why it is very important to let children draw what they see around themselves. Later our children in the workshop reflected on the Ukrainian drawings, observing their animals, and decided to draw more animals for the Ukrainian children. The children did very well on their drawings for the Ukrainian children.
All of them consistently paid attention to instructions and help given by the director of the
workshop. The children learn how to draw from perspective, and how to find a point in the room they are drawing. The children were asking questions if they were unsure of something or if they needed help completing the objective. The objective was to draw the wall on the opposite side of the room, where there were many drawers and an interesting ceiling texture. The children started drawing from the ‘point’, and everything later on stems off of this ‘point’. To learn how to draw from the point is an essential skill even when you do not use it in your later profession. A girl in the workshop, Monroe, had told us, “I am not an artist,” when she did not draw perfect lines. In the end, she was glad she had drawn her picture. She had a good time drawing and showed of her drawing to the children and to her parents.

Information Session:

February 11, 2025

Fermata Arts Foundation welcomes first participants from Kharkiv and Kharkiv Region, Ukraine in our new project!

Mariia Kolesnik Mariia, 13 years old. Instructor: I.B. Falko, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Sofia Goncharenko, 12 years old. Instructor: I.B. Falko, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Victoriia Kolesnik, 12 years old. Instructor: I.B. Falko, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Anna Sergienko, 11 years old. Instructor: I.B. Falko, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Diana Zaporozchenko, 10 years old. Instructor: I.B. Falko, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Anna Bunina 15 years old. Instructor: I.B. Falko, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Yelyzaveta Tokmakova, 8 years old. Instructor: I.B. Falko, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Title: “The giraffe saw the northern lights when he came from hot Africa to the North Pole.”
Veronika Ogienko, 8 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Tymofii Verbovetskyi, grade 3-A. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Lilia Fomenko, 9 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Myron Shostak. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Veronica Netesa, 10 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Timur Bilenko, 11 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Iryna Savchenko, 11 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Dmytro Kotelievets, 10 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Alyona Kukla, 10 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Margarita Khalimon, 10 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Kateryna Cherniaeva, 10 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Sofia Sushko. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Arseniy Kolesnik. Instructor: Lyudmila Bojko. Staryi Merchyk village, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine.
Mariia Shapovalova. Instructor: N.V. Kulinich, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Nadezhda Movchan, 9 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Margarita Gevorgova, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Katerina Kuvaldina, 12years, old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Stefaniia Klimenko, 7 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Kseniia Ivashenko, 12 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Oleksandr Lishkun, 8 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Mariia Lupivovk, 5 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Evgen Palamarchuk, 9 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Uliana Pislar. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Sofia Somenko, 8 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Ivan Usatuy, 9 years old. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Olena Volosnik, 11 years old, Kharkiv, Ukraine,
Daryna Havrylko, 10 years old. Instructor: Nadezhda Anatoliivna Smelnik. Cherneshchyna village, Berestyn district, Kharkiv region, Ukraine.
Mariya Kumaritashvili Mariya, 9 years old. Instructor: Nadezhda Anatoliivna Smelnik. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Stanislav Shemezhys, 10 years old. Instructor: Nadezhda Anatoliivna Smelnik. Novoselivka Village, Berestynskyi district, Kharkiv region, Ukraine.
Zlata Nahirna Zlata, 9 years old. Instructor: Tetyana Sergiivna Chashchina. Krasnokutsk village, Kharkiv region, Ukraine.
Polina Denchik, 8 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Mikhailivna Maiboroda, Head of the Studio “vikArt” Kharkiv, Ukraine. Title: “Surprise”.
Angelina Rupan, 8 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Mikhailivna Maiboroda, Head of the Studio “vikArt” Kharkiv, Ukraine. Title: «Kiwi adventures in Ukraine»
Lina Fursina, 10 years old. Instructor: Lyudmila Mikhailivna Maiboroda, Head of the Studio “vikArt” Kharkiv, Ukraine.Title: To rescue” [«Redden»]. Deutschland
Anna Artyomova, 10 years old. Instructor: Viktoriia Anatoliivna Usenko. Music school No. 8 named after P.D. Gaidamaka, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Yulia Benedyk, 10 years old. Instructor: Viktoriia Anatoliivna Usenko. Music school No. 8 named after P.D. Gaidamaka, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Elizaveta Kuzminskaya 10years old. Instructor: Viktoriia Anatoliivna Usenko. Music school No. 8 named after P.D. Gaidamaka, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Uliana Lukinova, 10 years old. Instructor: Viktoriia Anatoliivna Usenko. Music school No. 8 named after P.D. Gaidamaka, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Zlata Narozhna, 8 years old. Instructor: Viktoriia Anatoliivna Usenko. Music school No. 8 named after P.D. Gaidamaka, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Alisa Plakhotina, 7 years old. Instructor: Viktoriia Anatoliivna Usenko. Music school No. 8 named after P.D. Gaidamaka, Kharkiv, Ukraine.