On August 18, 2023, Olha Krasnopolska, a leading researcher of the O.O.Osmerkin Art Memorial Museum, artist and teacher of fine arts, conducted a master class "Sunflower - a symbol of Ukraine" for students of the private alternative school "Моzаїка".
    This flower of the Sun was not chosen by chance, because it is a symbol of the Day of Remembrance of defenders of Ukraine who died in the struggle for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, which is celebrated on August 29. It was on this day in 2014, during the withdrawal of a Ukrainian group of troops from the Russian encirclement near the city of Ilovaisk, Donetsk region, through the "green corridor" through sunflower fields, that the Ukrainian army suffered the greatest losses.
    The children listened with interest to the story about the amazing flower - one of the symbols of Ukraine. As a sunflower turns its head to the Sun, so a person turns to his Motherland in thought, word and deed, as the Sun is the only and irreplaceable reference point for a sunflower, and the Motherland is the only and highest value for a person. The sunflower is the personification of the unstoppable desire of Ukrainians for sunlight and warmth, strength and well-being.
    And an artistic example for young artists was the painting by Honored Artist of Ukraine Serhii Shapovalov "Still Life with Sunflowers" (2000) from the museum collection of modern Ukrainian fine art.
    Therefore, the reproduction with watercolor and gouache paints of real majestic sunflower flowers, which the museum workers brought in advance from a suburban field and placed in a huge vase in a cozy museum hall, became an exciting artistic activity for the children, which ended with a photo shoot with the completed drawings.