Sunflowers for Ukraine Art Auction

The Sunflowers for Ukraine art auction took place on 4th May 2024 at Bloom Gallery in Russafa, Valencia and was a great success raising over 2,000 Euros for UKRAID Ukrainian Refugee Centre of Valencia.

American artist Michael Hartt painted 10 beautiful pieces of art featuring the Ukrainian national symbol of peace, strength and solidarity; the sunflower. Each piece showed a different interpretation of this important national symbol and showcased Michael’s individual and original painting style as well as colour palette.

The sunflower holds unique cultural and economic significance in Ukraine as a major sunflower oil exporter, this and other derivatives of the plant are crucial to the economy. The flower is also a hyper-accumulator with a unique capacity to draw toxic and radioactive elements from the soil. For this reason, it was planted at Chernobyl and to mark nuclear disarmament with Russia in 1996. It has since become a recognizable symbol of resistance and peace across the globe since the Russian invasion.

At the event, UKRAID Co-founder Arny Plaut gave a speech to those in attendance and said:

“These incredible flowers that follow the sun from east to west embody the strength and solidarity that I see among the Ukrainian refugees that use our centre. Men, women and children that have been through the horrors of war but despite it are planting new seeds, putting down new roots and will bloom again against the vivid blue sky of Valencia.”

We would like to thank Michael and Bloom Gallery once again for this fantastic event which helped raise awareness about UKRAID and kept the plight of Ukrainian refugees in the spotlight at a time when it is easy to forget that the war and the suffering continues even as the media cycle moves on.