For the Nikolenko family, art has always been a constant.
It started when their first daughter, Anya, was just 3 years old. After noticing her daughter loved drawing and working with clay, mom Olga Nikolenko found a studio for Anya to attend in Ukraine and eventually hired a college student to teach her in their home. “I always encouraged her passion and bought her the best art supplies I could afford, she always had everything she needed,” says Olga. “And she was constantly busy with art.” Now 22 years old, Anya is an exceptional artist.
“Drawing is a way for me to express my feelings, an idea, to let it pass through myself, to remember something, photography is to quickly capture the moment, and to draw a picture is that you think about it, it’s like a slow way to comprehend something." — Anya Nikolenko
As her other children matured, Olga would do the same for them: taking them to the best art teachers she could find in Ukraine. But finding affordable arts programming in Canada was difficult.
“I remember very vividly when we came from Ukraine we couldn’t find or afford art lessons in Calgary,” says Olga. Undeterred, she took her son Andrey, who was 4 at the time, to the local library. “We would pick up many wonderful picture books and copy the illustrations,” says Olga, who taught Andrey to dissect the elements and challenge himself to draw them. “Very quickly he became pretty amazing at drawing!”
The youngest Nikolenko daughter, Emily, who is now 6, never had art lessons in Ukraine. But she’s a big fan of art-astic Fridays at artsPlace—and one of the best artists in her kindergarten class, says Olga. “She loves to draw and she does it everyday!”
Art as a tool for healing and hope
For many, art is more than a form of expression, but a way to process big experiences and emotions. That’s certainly true for the Nikolenko family.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Andrey (now 9) was in the central city of Dnipro with his dad and siblings. “My husband and 4 children woke up to the Russian missile attack on our city,” says Olga. “They left home that same day and in 2 weeks joined [me and my daughter] in Canada.”
It was a harrowing experience, and one that stayed with Andrey for some time. For months after arriving safely in Canada, he drew war-themed images including military airplanes, military, army, explosions, and war ships, says Olga. “I think it helped him to process things.”
It also helped him uncover a new passion: airplanes. “Andrey loves drawing airplanes and says he wants to work with them one day,” Olga says.
Building confidence and community
Through it all, the arts have helped the Nikolenko children become confident, creative, and active members of their local—and global—community. Both Anya and Vasylisa have performed at charity events for Ukraine, helping to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees in the Bow Valley and those still in their home country. At 15 years old, Vasylisa recently placed first in the Grade 10 / ARCT Piano class at the Alberta Provincial Festival.
“They are smart, creative, have ideas, spend less time in front of the screens, and keep themselves busy with good things,” says Olga. “They feel more confident because of their artistic skills and are more connected.”
All 6 Nikolenko children participate regularly in artsPlace programming with support from the Discover Art Access Program, from writing, drawing, and ceramics classes to classical and jazz music concerts and family-friendly workshops. And each one is an exceptional artist in their own right.
“I saw many times how my kids returned from artsPlace and immediately continued some project at home because their minds were stirred in a good way, they were full of creativity, they had ideas,” says Olga. And when young people have ideas, anything is possible.
