Ten local artists from the Heartland Artists Gallery came together to paint sunflowers on canvas tote bags to raise money for Ukrainian relief. The idea came about when a gallery member asked if Heartland could do something artistic to show support for Ukraine. The plan evolved from creating public art downtown (which would have taken much longer and require approval) to hand painting already existing Heartland Artists tote bags and selling them as a fundraiser. It was a much more efficient idea that will actually provide monetary support to the people of Ukraine.
With ten artists painting roughly 30 bags, each sunflower (the national flower of Ukraine) is unique! So far, the response from patrons has been very positive and it is possible that the artists will create another set of bags. Each hand-painted bag sells for $25 and the project has the potential to raise at least $750. All funds will be directed to “Sunflower of Peace”, a non-profit organization committed to helping Ukrainians affected by the Russian military invasion. Information on their organization can be found at sunflowerofpeace.com.
