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ARTIST ADMIRES ZELENSKY’S STAND AGAINST RUSSIAN INVADERS
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By Rachel Snyder
rachel.snyder@peoplenewspapers.com
Vladimir Grygorenko came to Dallas from his native Ukraine in 2000 to paint the iconography that adorns the Saint Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral – a process that took nine years.
Grygorenko, 56, grew up in Dnipro, Ukraine, in the south-central part of the country, when it was part of the old Soviet Union and trained in mechanical engineering.
Through his painting and religious iconography, his faith grew.
“Eventually, I found God,” said Grygorenko, who was baptized in 1991 around the time Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union.
His work as a professional iconographer in the traditional Byzantine style eventually brought an invitation in 2000 to decorate the Dallas cathedral. The artist lived
Vladimir Grygorenko was hired to paint the iconography at Saint Seraphim Cathedral around 2000.
(PHOTOS: COURTESY VLADIMIR GRYGORENKO, AND RACHEL SNYDER)
close to the cathedral located on Wycliff Avenue, near Oak Lawn Avenue, for 14 years and continues to attend services there. He’s gone on to work for various other churches around the country.
The Saint Seraphim congregation is decades old and remains the hub of devotional life for more than 300 Christians, many of Ukrainian and Russian descent.
Grygorenko is among at least 15 congregation members with relatives and friends in Ukraine. Some of his have joined the war efforts during the Russian invasion that began on Feb. 24. He phones Ukraine every day.
Ukraine has “become extremely united,” said the artist, who, like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is of Jewish descent and speaks Russian as his first language.
Grygorenko had reservations after Zelensky’s election in 2019 but now praises the Ukrainian president’s leadership.
“He is not going to give up,” Grygorenko said. “He stays in the war zone. I know that people are united around him.”
The Orthodox Church in America, of which Saint Seraphim is a part, has collected donations for Ukrainian refugee relief. The donations go to a humanitarian agency of the Polish Orthodox Church, which is registered with the Polish government and assisting with the refugee crisis.
“None of it’s good,” Bishop Gerasim of Saint Seraphim said of the war. “It’s all painful. it’s destructive to our church community as well. … Right now, our focus is on helping the faithful from Ukraine.”
‘Ukrainians Are Very Brave’ But Need Our Help
Olena Jacobs bustled around Ukie Style on a recent Saturday afternoon, fielding questions from shoppers and BETHANY ERICKSON others at her increasingly busy store in Preston Valley Shopping Center.
The store, catering to all things Ukrainian culture, has drawn new attention in recent weeks.
Many come to buy yellow and blue signs of support and pick up photocopied lists of medical supplies Jacob and other Ukrainian immigrants are collecting. Her fellow Ukrainians, some Americans, and “even some Russians” come to help pack everything up for shipping.
As Jacobs spoke with Dallasites eager to help, her friend Oksana Toporina also fielded calls and questions.
Toporina has anxiously watched the news and social media and talked to family and friends back in Ukraine when she can.
“I couldn’t get a hold of a couple of my aunts for a couple of days, and that worried me a lot,” she said. “I have friends all over Ukraine — some are on the move, and some are afraid to come out. Ukrainians are very brave.”
An Airbnb host in Ukraine echoed that sentiment when we spoke about renting his spare room. I had no intention of staying there but, like many others, wanted to support Ukrainians directly.
“We are stronger every day,” Andrey said. “Believe in us. This war will end someday, and you are welcome any time here.”
Iryna Fedorets, another Ukrainian I reached, had to take down her crochet stuffed animals from her Etsy shop, HandmadeByIrynaToys, when the war began because shipping from Ukraine became impossible.
She pivoted to offering digital prints that buyers can download. Her daughter, Anastasia, created a painting before the war that she felt embodied the “free and independent” Ukraine she loves.
“There are many people here in Ukraine who have suffered from the war,” Fedorets said. “They lost their homes, relatives, children, friends — everything they had. All that is left is a backpack with documents and essentials.”
Ukie Style owner Olena Jacobs has been collecting medical supplies to send back home. Ukrainians remaining in their country have praised American efforts to help, including
purchasing their artwork online. (PHOTO: BETHANY ERICKSON,
UKRAINIAN ART: ANASTASIA FEDORETS/HANDMADEBYIRYNATOYS)
She said her family was OK, “but the situation is very unstable and changing very quickly.”
“Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow,” she added. “I just start crying when I see how much people are trying to support our country and our people. I hope this awful war ends soon and everyone can come here and see our beautiful country and people.”
In the meantime, Jacobs and Toporina continue collecting medical supplies.
“It’s very fluid right now — but for right now, it’s only medical supplies that can be shipped,” Toporina said. “We’re overwhelmed, but American people are good people. We’re doing what we can to help, and I think it’s great that people are coming together on this side of the world.”
From Finland With Love
As our kids age and start their own lives, we’ve decided we need a bigger pool of playmates. So, a year ago, when asked to join a group of middle-aged Harvard graduates on a journey to the Arctic Circle, we leaped at the chance. Truth is, we fancy ourselves MICHELE VALDEZ pseudo intellects and figured we could handle the schmoozing in mixed company (Ivy Leaguers vs. state schoolers). Just to be sure, my husband studied up on the World Bank, Federal Reserve, and financial markets. I took on the classics, beginning with Anna Karenina.
After a month and little progress, I found a film version of the best novel ever written and watched that. Then, to round out my preparation, I watched Pride and Prejudice, and The Great Gatsby. We were ready for brainy banter.
At this point, you may be wondering what dummies (college alma mater aside) go to the Arctic Circle in the middle of winter? These “Vardians” had their sights set on snowshoeing in Sweden and Finland, with the highlight being a night at the Ice Hotel, all the reindeer we could eat, and dog sledding.
We were all in and, like a Rose Ceremony on The Bachelor, dripping with desire to be a part of the group. So, with paper, digital, and screenshot copies of vaccine cards and every other piece of ID (including my Costco membership card), we ventured north to a deep freeze.
Donning battery-powered hand warmers and socks, balaclavas, thermal unmentionables, and Michelin man snow pants (they are black, so somewhat slimming), I never doubted our reasoning in spending thousands to sleep on an ice bed.
And, as it turns out, Sweden and Finland have a simple but palpable beauty in winter and are cultural treasures. Sure, it was as cold as a gold digger’s heart, and one night in the Ice Hotel is plenty for most anyone.
But, it was for a good cause, expanding our circle of friends. After all, we need more friends as we age, and when it comes to friends, smart friends are better than the alternative, right?
And, the best part, the Ivy Leaguers are humble and funny. They told bad jokes and never mentioned the Federal Reserve or Leo Tolstoy. When the trip ended, I came home feeling good about our new friends and our state school pedigrees.
Michele Valdez, a slightly compulsive, mildly angry feminist, has been an attorney and volunteer. She has four demanding adult children and a patient husband.
Volunteer groups work to improve Preston Hollow and North Dallas campuses as part of
United to Learn’s Community Campus Days. (PHOTOS: COURTESY UNITED TO LEARN)
United to Learn Volunteers Spruce Up Dallas Campuses
Volunteers have been hard at work at a handful of Dallas ISD schools over multiple weekends — and there’s still time to join them.
United to Learn kicked off its Community Campus Days in February, but there are also opportunities on April 2, 9, and 23.
Teams of volunteers have been volunteering on projects benefitting 26,100 students and 2,100 educators.
Nearby schools include KB Polk, Foster Elementary, Walnut Hill Elementary, Preston Hollow Elementary, Pershing Elementary, Kramer Elementary, Withers Elementary, DeGolyer Elementary, Gooch Elementary, and Nathan Adams Elementary.
So far, volunteers from Husch Blackwell, Condin Tobin, UPS, and the community spruced up Calliet Elementary (and got a visit from Dallas ISD trustee Edwin Flores and Dallas city council member Gay Donnell Willis), while volunteers from Hillcrest High School and Greenhill School, along with the Dallas Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi and Insperity painted staircases and installed decals with positive messaging at Obadiah Knight Elementary and Preston Hollow Elementary. Students from Hillcrest and Greenhill also joined other organizations to create sensory paths along interior hallways at McShan Elementary and Cesar Chavez Learning Center.
– Staff report
LEND A HAND
Visit unitedtolearn.org to volunteer for a Community Campus Day, see other opportunities, or sponsor a Community Campus Day.
Well-Read Community mobilizes to provide ‘new’ library for Franklin Middle
Representatives from Gensler, Whiting-Turner, and Altrusa International of Downtown Dallas gathered with Dallas ISD officials and Franklin students to celebrate the opening of the new
library. PHOTOS: COURTESY DALLAS ISD)
After the 2019 tornado decimated Cary Middle School, half of the students were assigned to Benjamin Franklin International Exploratory Academy.
The new library is exactly what our students needed after the tornadoes and a pandemic. Irma De La Guardia
The community rallied around the campus known as Franklin Middle School, seeking ways to help the newest students — and those already there.
Through a series of conversations with the Dallas Education Foundation, the non-profit partner of Dallas ISD, and the school’s principal, a request for a library renovation was the answer — and the district celebrated the school’s “new” library on March 3.
Ultimately multiple partners helped, including Gensler, the global architecture firm that provided the design services; Whiting-Turner taking the lead on the construction needs; and Altrusa International of Downtown Dallas offering to provide new furniture.
“We are incredibly excited about the new library and so grateful to the Dallas Education Foundation and all their partners for supporting our campus,” Benjamin Franklin principal Irma De La Guardia said. “The new library is exactly what our students needed after the tornadoes and a pandemic.”
