The Living Museum is an international collaborative project organized by The Colors of Heritage Program team. Tetyana Forostyan, PhD, Program Executive Officer at FRAC, together with Olga Kitsmanyk, Director of Art Studio and Education Center Veselka, developed the concept of a teaching museum with collections of cultural and historical value. We created a unique niche for children who require reinforcement, encouragement, and support of their larger community to continue developing and learning regardless of immediate circumstances.
Connection to own history and appreciation of the beauty of traditional art, both inspires and empowers through learning new skills and own history. At our Studio Veselka, mothers and children are uniting in spiritual healing over mosaic of colors and patterns created by their ancestors.
The purpose of this museum is to raise general cultural awareness and to broaden the educational spectrum on the basis of learning art history and transferrable skills. By having hands on access in a supportive setting nourishing creativity and learning, the children and their families grow individually and come together as a larger community in our Art Studio and Learning Center Veselka.
The collections consist of traditional Ukrainian embroidered and woven clothing, household items, and other textiles, as well as examples of ceramics and woodworking. Separate sections are dedicated to traditional sacred and symbolic Ukrainian Rushnyk – an embroidered tapestry of individual stories intertwined with the intricate nature that surrounded the people that created them.
Our students are inspired by their rich history and heritage. Drawing upon wisdom of their ancestors, the young generation continues to learn preciseness, dedication, diligence, design and execution, planning and creative expression, all the strength that will propel them into the bright future. Today, they recreate old traditions with a new vision of their generation. Tomorrow, they will apply the acquired confidence, knowledge, and skills in their professional and personal lives, as happier and more successful confident young people that are the future of their country.
