03 Apr SOWING THE SEEDS OF BEAUTY
INVITATION TO THE INTERNATIONAL ART ACTION “SOWING THE SEEDS OF BEAUTY”
We invite you and your students to participate in the international art practice “Sowing the Seeds of Beauty,” conducted as part of the XXXI All-Ukrainian Earth Day Festival 2026: “Earth for Us and Our Posterity: Preserving the Mental Health of Humanity for Sustainable Development.”
“Sowing the Seeds of Beauty” is a metaphor for hope that germinates through difficulties and challenging times. Our focus is on the apple and its seeds. Like the legendary Johnny Appleseed, who traveled barefoot planting apple trees for future generations, we are learning to consciously sow seeds of kindness.
This exercise reminds us that even in the harshest winter of life, we can nurture resilience. A seed is a symbol of faith: we plant it today, knowing it will bear fruit tomorrow. Every apple, every blossom, and every seed in this practice represents our connections, our emotions, and our ability to notice beauty in ourselves and others, uniting the children of Ukraine with the whole world in a single blooming orchard.
Goal of practice: to develop resilience, nurture hope, and cultivate a culture of gratitude through art-therapy methods.
Materials: paper, paints (gouache/acrylic), an apple (for stamping), pencils, or markers.
Tell Us About Yourself
Instructions for Children (Ages 7–13)
Step 1: Create the “fruits.” Cut the apple in half. Apply paint to the cut surface and press it onto the paper to create apple prints. Alternatively, simply draw the apples of your dreams.
Step 2: Search for the “seeds of beauty.” Recall a kind act you witnessed recently (helping a friend, caring for nature). Inside each apple, write or draw that moment. This is your seed from which great kindness will grow.
Step 3: Create a garden. Cut out your apples. Give one to the person who inspired you, or paste all the group’s apples onto a collective poster titled “Orchard of Hope.”
Step 4: Take a photo of your work and send it via the link: https://forms.gle/r6BRNCiAg1gFVULDA
Instructions for Youth and Adults (Ages 14–25+)
Step 1: Seeds (connection). At the bottom of the sheet, draw seeds. Next to them, write down actions (your own or those of others) that create a sense of unity with people and the earth, even in difficult times.
Step 2: Blossoms (emotions). Draw apple blossoms. Flowers represent your reaction to beauty. Write down what you find truly beautiful in the people around you and what feelings this evokes in you.
Step 3: Fruit (value). Draw apples. The fruit represents the ability to see value. What actions by others have sparked sincere gratitude in you recently? What has “ripened” in your heart thanks to others?
Step 4: Map of beauty. Combine these elements into a single composition (a tree or an abstraction). Add details that are personally important to you. Think about whom you would like to “gift” this beauty to, either in your thoughts or in reality.
Step 5: Take a photo of your composition and send it via the link: https://forms.gle/r6BRNCiAg1gFVULDA
The action is implemented by the Kirovohrad Regional Center for Children and Youth Creativity in partnership with the American non-profit organization “VeLa Wellbeing.”