An art and education workshop dedicated to the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God (Pokrova) was held at the Ukrainian Youth Association (CYM) hall in Calgary. At CYM’s invitation, Ukrainian Studies developed the concept for and organized a special cultural and educational project that combined learning about Ukrainian ornament with hands-on artistic work by young people.
The event was initiated by the Ukrainian Youth Association – CYM Calgary, which invited Ukrainian Studies to organize and lead a themed Pokrova workshop for its senior members.
In response, Ukrainian Studies created the concept for the project and brought in specialists in Ukrainian culture and art to carry it out: Professor Oleh Bolyuk, Doctor of Art History, and Andriy Sendetskyy, PhD in Cultural Studies.
The program was designed specifically for CYM youth. Its goal was not only to introduce participants to traditional Ukrainian ornament, but also to give them the opportunity to work directly with this area of cultural heritage and use it as a foundation for their own creative work.
From Knowledge to Creativity
The workshop combined an educational component with a practical one.
In the opening talk, participants learned about the distinctive features of Ukrainian ornament: its origins and types, principles of composition, symbolism, color palettes, and regional characteristics.
Particular attention was paid to the patterns that govern how an ornament is built, the shapes of its individual elements, and the ways colors are combined. Through these features, one can trace connections to the various ethnographic regions of Ukraine and to traditions preserved for generations in Ukrainian clothing, ritual cloths (rushnyky), embroidery, and decorative art.
For the young participants, this was an introduction to ornament not simply as a decorative pattern, but as a language of culture: a way in which earlier generations expressed their understanding of the world, of beauty, and of belonging to a particular place and community.
After the theoretical part, the CYM members moved on to practical work.
Using a variety of art materials and visual techniques, each participant created their own ornamental piece inspired by motifs from traditional Ukrainian art. One by one, dozens of distinct compositions took shape: geometric and floral, multicolored and limited to just a few hues, each with its own character and its own personal interpretation of tradition.
Many Works, One Image
The idea behind the workshop was that these pieces would not remain separate works. The ornamental fragments painted by the young participants became parts of a single large collaborative composition: an image of Pokrova.
At its center stands the Mother of God of the Protection, spreading her omophorion (veil) over the people, one of the most deeply rooted images of intercession, care, and protection in Ukrainian cultural tradition. It was her veil that was formed from the young participants’ individual works. Each ornament thus became part of the whole protective veil of Pokrova. This gave the project an added layer of symbolic meaning: different hands, different artistic choices, and different interpretations of Ukrainian tradition came together in one shared image.
Young People Working Alongside Professional Artists
One of the workshop’s key features was that the young people’s involvement went beyond creating their own ornaments. Some CYM members worked directly alongside the professional artists, helping to create the central figure of Pokrova and her garments. The young participants were able to witness the very process by which a large composition comes to life, from concept and sketch to the finished collaborative work. This co-creation turned the workshop from an ordinary art class into a direct transfer of professional and cultural experience to the younger generation. Here, knowledge did not remain something merely heard; it was put into action through line, color, composition, and shared effort.
A Collaboration in Which Everyone Had a Role
The project’s success was the result of close collaboration among all those involved.
CYM Calgary requested a high-quality professional cultural and educational project and provided the space to bring young people together. Ukrainian Studies developed the concept, shaped the program content, engaged the appropriate experts, and ensured the workshop was delivered professionally. The young CYM members were not just listeners; they became active co-creators of the artistic result.
Senior CYM members Polina Kvasova and Mykola Perevernytskyi provided important organizational and practical support during the workshop.
They were brought on board by our colleague Natalia Melysh, whose initiative launched this inter-institutional collaboration between CYM Calgary and Ukrainian Studies.
Polina Kvasova and Mykola Perevernytskyi’s help in working with the youth, organizing the process, and creating the right environment for the workshop was an essential part of the project’s success.
The everyday work of senior CYM members with the younger generation deserves special recognition. It is through this kind of consistent effort that cultural education goes beyond a single event and becomes part of a broader process of building national identity, a sense of responsibility for one’s heritage, and a living connection to Ukrainian culture.
Culture You Can Touch
For the Ukrainian community outside Ukraine, projects like this hold special significance.
Cultural heritage is preserved not only through books, lectures, and museum collections. It stays alive when the next generation has the chance not just to hear about it, but to engage with it personally. For the participants of this workshop, Ukrainian ornament was, for a few hours, no longer just an image from a textbook, an old photograph, or a museum exhibit. It became the material of their own creative work. This is one of the central areas of Ukrainian Studies’ work: creating an environment where academic knowledge of Ukrainian culture meets living practice, and where professional scholars and artists can pass their experience directly on to the next generation.
At the end of the workshop, a large collaborative image of the Mother of God of the Protection remained at the CYM hall. Her veil is made up of many different ornaments created by many different hands. No two are alike. Yet together they form a single composition.
Perhaps this image best captures the meaning of the entire project: cultural heritage becomes shared not because everyone creates in the same way, but because each person adds their own part to it.
Ukrainian culture lives on wherever it is not only remembered, but studied, created, reimagined, and passed on.
Ukrainian Studies extends sincere gratitude to the Ukrainian Youth Association in Calgary for its invitation and trust; to Natalia Melysh for the initiative that launched this collaboration; to Polina Kvasova and Mykola Perevernytskyi for their organizational support and assistance during the workshop; and to all the young participants for their openness, creative work, and willingness to explore Ukrainian cultural heritage through their own experience.
