UKRAINIAN CHURCHES: Standing Tall in the Struggle

The Shevchenko Museum is pleased to invite you to the opening of UKRAINIAN CHURCHES: Standing Tall in the Struggle, an exhibition of sketches by artist-architect David Boeck, on Sunday, February 9, 2025, at 2pm. We are honoured to have as our guest speaker, Dr. Frank Sysyn who will deliver the keynote speech. At 4pm, the artist will conduct an interactive tutorial on urban sketching. The opening will take place in the Museum Gallery at 1604 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario.

David Boeck, artist and emeritus professor of architecture at the University of Oklahoma, brings us a series of dynamic, colourful drawings of Ukrainian churches. Stressing the importance of the hand-brain connection for creativity and diverse thinking, he is a strong proponent of freehand sketching in general, and in his own work. A traveller, and socially-conscious story-teller, David is driven by a strong desire to use visuals to reflect his world. To quote the artist: “Art is a way to communicate stories about the culture around us”.

Drawn to the beauty of Kyiv’s architecture, he initially sketched churches and major buildings, but gradually became aware that many had been damaged or destroyed. Moved to support Ukraine in any way he can, over a 3-year period, David has been sketching Ukraine’s churches the way they were before Russia’s invasion and in their present state.

This exhibition came about with the start of Russia’s February, 2022 invasion of Ukraine. David had a long-standing appreciation for the beauty of Ukraine’s churches but a scarcity of information on the Orthodox tradition. In his online study, he found more and more images of Ukraine’s destroyed churches, and in sketching these examples, he began to gain a deeper understanding of the history and politics of Ukraine while fulfilling his need for story-telling.

David Boeck: “It’s been a sad journey seeing what has been happening …. The destruction has been immense. My prayer is that this ends soon, and Ukraine and the rest of the world will begin rebuilding all that has been destroyed”.

Some images are titled, but others are not. The artist is encouraging members of the public to help complete the story by coming forward with any information they might have.

Shevchenko Museum
1604 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M6P 1A7
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