The art center Zelo in Poltava: the story of an educational project for children and adults.
Painters Yaroslav Ternovsky and his wife, Alina Honcharova, founded a gallery Zelo in Poltava in 2014. Eventually, they launched a public organization, “Pectoral”. They did master classes and planners, as well as organized exhibitions.
With the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, the initiative was transformed into an art-center where classes are held for over 600 children from the families of forced migrants and local residents of Poltava. The launch of Zelo centers in other Ukrainian cities is planned. Yaroslav and his team are intent on reaching this goal.
Painting during air raid alarm
On the morning of February 24 Yaroslav came to the Zelo center, just as was his wont. The gallery was to have hosted a painting class for 30 children. He had not read the news, so he was quietly setting easels and getting prepared for the class.
“Nobody came and I got nervous. I then saw fighter jets whizzing in the air. Those were Ukrainian jets. Normally, one would not see them flying over Poltava‘, says Yaroslav. ‚It was afterwards that I learned about the invasion“.
After that day Yaroslav and Alina spent a month anxiously expecting the arrival of Russian occupants. They helped set checkpoints in the city, bringing old wheels and putting sand into them. They did simple things to keep themselves busy. Alina painted a poster with Saint Michael the Archangel on it for defenders of the city. She wanted it to invisibly protect them.
At that time Poltava became a home for many people who fled from Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv province, as well as from Ukraine’s southern parts. Most families of forced migrants had children.
“Schools were shut down, school study group sessions did not convene. I understood we had to organize something. In April 2022 my wife and I launched painting classes for children of refugees“,- says Yaroslav.
About twenty children with their parents came to the first meeting. All of a sudden, air raid sirens went off. Luckily there was a bomb shelter under the gallery, in the parking area. We moved there.
“We painted a small ram grazing on grass from life. I brought him from the Carpathians. At first we took a look at slides telling the story about the life of a famous painter who used to scribble his masterpieces. We got inspired and began creating together, which was cool“, – says Yaroslav.
These classes were first held once a week. With time the number of those willing to participate grew and classes began to be held every day. Eventually the gallery was transformed into a platform for creativity that attracted flocks of people and adults.
“Everyone keeps themselves busy with creative work. They don’t have time to read news or follow the developments in Ukraine. This helps them take their minds off and recharge their batteries, which is something we are all lacking now“, – says Yaroslav.
All activities offered by Zelo have and will be free of charge. At the beginning each participant would bring something they had, e.g., watercolor paint sets or a box of cookies. Painters would distribute materials needed for painting or other creative activities from their stocks.
“Once an owner of an art shop came to us, asking us what we needed. The following day he brought two boxes with paints and paper. International donors began supporting us and it got easier to work“, – says Yaroslav.
Freedom of creativity
Step by step art classes held in the gallery developed into what is now known as the art center Zelo. The center now has three locations that can simultaneously host up to 200 children each. Students are taught by 40 experts in applied creativity, gymnastics, acting, English, business and music. Overall, 80 theme-based classes are held both for children and adults:
“The art center Zelo started with a gallery in the center of Kyiv, in the Independence Square 1B. We then made friends with the Poltava State Agriculture University located in Skovoroda Street ⅓. They offered us their art center which is way bigger than our gallery. We began holding our choreography classes and artistic gymnastics there. Comfortable conditions make it possible for 30-40 people to participate in 2 different classes.
We then got to know people from the shopping and entertainment center Metropolitan in Poltava. They suggested we rent the 400-square-meter space on their fourth floor for a very reasonable price. They were really inspired by our input into society“, – the founders of Zelo say.
Everyone can
Most experts at Zelo came to the center as volunteers. A third of them have the status of internally displaced persons. One of them is Maksym Sterlik, a professional actor from the Kharkiv Taras Shevchenko Drama Theater. He brought his own equipment to be used in class. There is also an expert who used to teach entrepreneurship, having adapted his lectures for children.
“We stick to the idea of not holding anyone. Freedom of choice is our main achievement. There were cases when a teacher said, ‚Ok, I am going to run about my business. Maybe I will show up at some point‘. He may have become tired, or fed up with all this. We say goodbye to people very kindly. However, we are happy when people work with us for longer periods of time. We search for different scholarships for them to pay their salaries“, – says Yaroslav.
Denys Danilov, photo credit: courtesy of the FB page of the Art Centre Zelo
Apart from activities in Poltava, Zelo’s team organizes various festivals in towns of the eponymous province. Yaroslavl rents a bus and teachers who are volunteers from the center load it with needed equipment to hit the road and visit those who have been forced to abandon their homes because of the war. Every event is visited by about one hundred people.
“We bring them at least a fraction of positive emotions, providing also mental aid. People are extremely exhilarated to participate in every master class. At times they even line up to try their hand at the potter’s wheel or easel. In general, these events are held in a very positive atmosphere“, – says Yaroslav.
600 applications in one week
Once Yaroslav and his team had to process 600 applications in one week. They decided to update the database of beneficiaries (people who receive services – editor’s note). A local consulting company advised them on how to automate the process of application submission in the most efficient manner, as well as on how to split people into groups and other processes.
“In the summer our center was visited by 300 people, while starting from September 2022 we were forced to double the number of seats. We rented a third location“, – says Yaroslav. “We decided to relaunch the project, asking everyone to fill out an online form. In it would-be participants could choose one or several classes that would fit their age“, – says he.
Donors also advised Yaroslav to encode the names of the participants for security reasons. Each of the beneficiaries inserts their nicknames in the form, under which they want to be recognized in classes.
“People see that, let’s say, a person with the nickname ‚Vesely Zaychyk‘ (the Ukrainian for “a jolly hare” – translator’s note) visits certain classes, which means that they also can participate. If we get people with identical nicknames, we add two last digits of their phone numbers, which makes the probability of coincidence quite low“, – says Yaroslav.
Crowdfunding and plans
Since April 2023 over 3150 classes have been held at Zelo. 1400 people have participated. All activities are free. However, parents are welcome to financially support the center.
“That’s what we actually tell people: we don’t have the right to ask you for anything. If you can and want to help, you may make a donation to help us handle the heating bill. About 25% of parents did so. From the perspective of marketing, this is not a bad conversion.
To stay at the same level where we are today, we need at least 400 thousand UAH (approximately 10 thousand USD – translator’s note) a month. This sum includes salaries, rent, expenses on materials. However, at the budget planning stage we failed to take heating costs into account, so we began raising funds through Spilnokosht (the popular crowdfunding website in Ukraine – translator’s note). It was a back-up plan that stood us in good stead“, – says Yaroslav.
At present Yaroslav and his team are working to scale their project up. In the near future they intend to open an art center Zelo in Kharkiv. They have already set about searching for volunteers and funds. In the future the team is planning to open such centers in other cities.
“Enthusiasm is what makes things happen here. We know how to manage processes and talk to beneficiaries. I am afraid we could turn into a bureaucratic institution, which may limit the organic expansion of our community. Currently unique projects are being born outside the community. These projects are launched by experts who join our activities“.
Yaroslav believes that each community has to have an educational space where people could express themselves. The center is a place that generates motivation and fires everyone with motivation.
“Tomorrow, for example, we are having a class on robotic technologies or gymnastics. The initiative came from our teachers and we simply included this into the curriculum. It is thanks to these elements that our organization continues its organic growth. We want this model to be deployed in other communities, or perhaps in the educational process. This could be interesting“.
