On May 15-18, 2023, the O.O.Osmerkin Memorial Art Museum, on the occasion of the International Museum Day (May 18), held a traditional cultural and artistic educational event "Museum Guests", which this year is dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. After all, during the war, art and culture change formats, but do not lose their value. By preserving the cultural heritage of Ukraine, museums combine the past, present and future.
The theme of the International Day of Museums in 2023 is "Museums, Sustainability and Wellbeing". According to the definition of the International Council of Museums ICOM, this day is dedicated to emphasizing the role of museums in the well-being and sustainable development of society. Museums should be a supporting structure in our shared social structure and their activities should create a cascading effect to promote positive change. There are many ways museums can help with sustainable development, from supporting climate action and promoting inclusivity to tackling social isolation and improving mental health. Ukrainian museums and museum collections have become special targets in Russia's war against Ukraine. This once again confirms how important museums are for our memory, identity, education, for our future. As a result of full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, many museums, unfortunately, could not open their doors to visitors on May 18.
    The staff of the O.O.Osmerkin Memorial Art Museum decided to actively participate in the celebration of the International Day of Museums and held a number of artistic events within the framework of traditional thematic headings.
    On May 15, the museum portal presented the virtual exhibition "Painting Palette of Serhii Shapovalov" to the 80th anniversary of the birth of Honored Artist of Ukraine Serhii Shapovalov from the museum collection " Contemporary Ukrainian Fine Art" on the museum's website in the "Selected exhibitions" section.
    On May 15-18, the Museum Vernissage exhibited a travelling exhibition of reproductions of the works of Kropyvnytskyi artists "Picturesque views of the city above Ingul" in the Tourist Information Center of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council on Gogol Street, 91. The exposition of the exhibition consisted of twenty color reproductions of paintings from the funds of the O.O.Osmerkin Memorial Art Museum, author's collections and private collections. Architectural gems of the past and present of Kropyvnytskyi, as well as panoramic views of the city are vividly presented in the works of Kropyvnytskyi artists - Honored Artists of Ukraine Serhii Shapovalov and Anatolii Yaniev, Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine Leonid Bondar, members of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Andrii Hvorost, Andrii Kadygrob and Oleksandr Demydenko, a member of the National Union of Masters of Folk Art of Ukraine Andrii Lipatov and the artist Volodymyr Ostroukhov, most of whom are laureates of the Oleksandr Osmerkin regional prize in the field of fine arts and art history. The employees of the tourist information center appropriately decorated the exhibition with a format banner depicting Andrii Lipatov's painting "Promenade on Dvortsova", which was reproduced as a mural in 2019 on the wall of the Museum of Arts on the occasion of the 265th anniversary of Kropyvnytskyi, and is now the original visiting card of the city.
    On May 17, the Museum Workshop organized the artistic project "Art Studios" on the theme: "Museum still life - 2023", which aims to popularize interesting objects from the museum collection in thematic still lifes. Permanent participants of the art project, artists Olha Krasnopolska, Nataliia Kornilova and Iryna Kuharenko, as well as amateur artist Iryna Tereshchenko created a still life in the ethnic style of memorial items from the house of architect Yakiv Pauchenko.
    On May 18, the Museum Art School held a master class "Academic Drawing". Valerii Davydov, a famous Krypynytskyi artist and teacher, who is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, a laureate of the Oleksandr Osmerkin regional prize in the field of fine arts and art history in the nomination "national tradition", and who for many years successfully worked as a teacher at the art faculty of the Central Ukrainian State University named after Volodymyr Vynnychenko, professionally conducted an original class for novice artists on improving the practical skill of creating an academic drawing, which is the basis of all types of fine art and can be both an independent work and a preparatory stage for painting, graphic and sculptural works. Yulia Tarasova, a former student of the university and now a successful artist-designer, teacher of the fine arts department of the children's art school, came to the master class, who listened with interest to the instructions of her former teacher regarding the peculiarities of transferring the volume and texture of objects using chiaroscuro. Valerii Davydov presented all the participants of the event with a booklet of his personal exhibition "Declaration", which was exhibited at the Art Museum several years ago.
    On May 15-18, the Museum Gallery offered free tours of the patriotic-themed exhibitions: "Invincible" and "ARTShelter for Artists", which are exhibited as part of the "Art Studios" art project on the theme: "Portraits of contemporaries on the background of war" for all categories of museum visitors.
It is nice to note that on the International Day of Museums, the staff of the O.O. smerkin Art Memorial Museum was awarded the Certificate of Culture and Tourism Management of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council for their significant contribution to the development of the city's museum business, popularization of fine arts, and active exhibition activity.