War takes away children's usual childhood, but art is the force that helps them overcome stress and psychological difficulties, restore emotional balance and peace of mind, find inspiration and open up new opportunities for personal realization. Support for young Ukrainian artists during the war is of great importance for the future of a country that is fighting for its independence and territorial integrity.
    The theme of the Leonid Bondar art competition «Youth Palette» to the International Children's Day, announced on February 1, 2025, was determined: «The Mysterious World of Ukrainian Mythology» with the aim of encouraging young artists to study the extremely rich and vibrant world of Ukrainian pre-Christian mythology – folk ideas, customs and rituals, beliefs and superstitions, the spiritual culture of the ancestors, their worldview, perception and mentality.
    The competition was held in the following types of fine arts: painting, graphics, sculpture, decorative arts. In connection with the martial law in Ukraine, works for participation in the competition, determined in educational institutions by preliminary selection, together with application forms, were sent in electronic form to the museum's email address until April 30, 2025 year.
    For the consideration of the competition jury, 130 works were submitted, their authors are 121 participants, of which 20 are boys and 101 are girls, 12 educational institutions, 1 private studio and 1 private teacher. These are students of such educational institutions of the city of Kropyvnytskyi: the art school named after Oleksandr Osmerkin, the children's art school of the fine arts department, circles and studios of fine and decorative arts of the city center for children's and youth creativity, lyceums «Maximum», «Municipal Collegium» and «Mriya», gymnasium «Podil'ska gymnasium», as well as students of the Central Ukrainian State University named after Volodymyr Vynnychenko, faculty of pedagogy, psychology and arts, department of art education and Kropyvnytskyi professional college of PVNZ «University of Modern Knowledge», specialty «Design». Traditionally, students of the art department of the Tarashchany children's music school of the Kyiv region, the «Mykhailivskyi Lyceum» and the Pokrovska branch of the Berezhynskyi lyceum «Lider» of the Kropyvnytskyi district of the Kirovohrad region took part in the competition. Many of the competition participants are internally displaced persons, as well as those who, with the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, were forced to leave the country and now live in other countries.
    On May 9, 2025, a meeting of the competition jury was held. The works of the contestants were evaluated by competent specialists: the head of the Kirovohrad regional organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Andriy Khvorost, the head of the department of culture and tourism of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council Anna Prussova, associate professor of the department of art education of the faculty of pedagogy, psychology and arts of the Central Ukrainian State University named after Volodymyr Vynnychenko, candidate of art history Olena Kyrychenko and artists, member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Lyudmyla Demydenko and leading research fellow of the museum Olga Krasnopolska.
    According to the decision of the competition jury, 77 art works of the participants, aged from 7 to 22 years, were awarded in the relevant 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; III – students of higher educational institutions of art and humanitarian profile, of which Diplomas of I, II, III degrees – 28 creative works, Acknowledgments and Distinctions of the jury members and organizing committee – 49 creative works.
    On June 1, 2025, on the International Children's Day, on the museum's website in the section «Leonid Bondar's Youth Palette» Art Competition, a virtual exhibition of the works of the competition winners on the theme: «The Mysterious World of Ukrainian Mythology», their diplomas, thanks, distinctions of the jury and organizing committee members, as well as a thematic booklet with reproductions of works awarded with diplomas, will be presented.