Artistic processes in Ukraine did not stop during the war, their vectors and priorities changed, because art unites the Ukrainian people in a crucial period of the country's history, which is fighting for its independence and territorial integrity. Young artists with their teachers, despite constant air alarms, continue to study and practice fine arts.
    The theme of Leonid Bondar's "Youth Palette" art competition for the International Children's Day in 2024 was announced: "Painting palette of Shevchenko's words" and is dedicated to the 210th anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko - a saint of the Ukrainian people, poet, artist, public figure, whose testament "Fight - win!" for every Ukrainian, and especially now, during the war, it sounds like a nabatom.
    The competition was held for the following types of fine art: painting, graphics, sculpture, decorative art. The works for participation in the competition were determined in educational institutions according to preliminary selection and together with the application form were sent in electronic form to the e-mail of the museum.
    137 works were submitted for consideration by the jury of the competition, their authors are 127 participants, including 15 boys and 112 girls, 16 educational institutions and 1 private teacher. These are students of the following educational institutions in the city of Kropyvnytskyi: Oleksandr Osmerkin art school, children's art school of the fine arts department, groups and studios of fine and decorative arts of the city center of children's and youth creativity, Taras Shevchenko lyceums, natural sciences, "Maximum", "Municipal collegium", "Linguistic", "Dream" and "Scientific", gymnasiums "Cossack Gymnasium" and "Podilskyi Gymnasium", as well as students of the Kropyvnytskyi Construction Professional College, Department of "Architecture and Management", and the Kropyvnytskyi College "University of Modern Knowledge", specialty "Design". Traditionally, students of the art class of the Taraschanska Children's Music School of the Kyiv Region and the "Mykhailiv Lyceum" of the Oleksandrivska Settlement Council of the Kropyvnytskyi District of the Kirovohrad Region took part in the competition.
    Many of the contestants are children of internally displaced persons, as well as those who were forced to leave the country with the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion and now live in other countries.
    On May 8, 2024, a meeting of the competition jury was held. The contestants' works were evaluated by competent specialists: the head of the Kirovohrad regional organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Andrii Hvorost, the head of the department of culture and tourism of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council Anna Nazarets, the associate professor of the art education department of the faculty of pedagogy, psychology and arts of the Central Ukrainian State University named after V.Vynnychenko, candidate of art history, Olena Kyrychenko, and artists, a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Liudmyla Demydenko, and a leading researcher of the museum, Olha Krasnopolska.
    According to the decision of the jury of the competition, 90 works of art of 87 participants, aged from 7 to 22 years old, were awarded in the corresponding age categories in three nominations: I - students of primary specialized art educational institutions, schools of aesthetic education; II - students of art studios and fine art circles of general educational institutions; ІІІ – students of higher educational institutions of artistic and humanitarian profile, among them Diplomas of I, II, III degree – 28 creative works of 27 participants, Acknowledgments and Awards of members of the jury and organizing committee – 62 creative works of 60 participants.
    On June 1, 2024, on the International Day for the Protection of Children, a virtual exhibition of the works of the winners of the competition on the topic: "Painting palette of Shevchenko's words" dedicated to the 210th anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko will be presented on the museum's website in the section "Art competition "Youth Palette" named after Leonid Bondar", their diplomas, acknowledgments, awards of members of the jury and the organizing committee, as well as a thematic booklet with reproductions of works awarded with diplomas.