Celebrating Scott Charles Ross’ Ukraine Project | 7/26 | 4-6

Join us Friday, July 26, from 4:00 – 6:00 for the 2024 celebration at Moberg Gallery before the series travels to its new home in Chicago. The original paintings will be exhibited for July 26 and 27. 

Meet the artist and hear from people who supported this project in raising funds and awareness since its inception.

We are happy to announce that the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago has accepted the generous gift of these paintings by Ross. They will be received in August, but before then, we want to gather and honor all those who helped make this a success! Ukraine ’22 Project can be viewed at Moberg Gallery: Scott Charles Ross | Ukraine ’22 Project – Moberg Gallery.

After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Des Moines-based artist, Scott Charles Ross, was compelled to create a series of paintings and drawings depicting Russia’s destructive war on the Ukrainian people; this became the Ukraine ’22 Project.

While working on this project, Ross was introduced to a high school foreign exchange student from Ukraine, who’d come to Iowa for his junior year in 2021 under a FLEX Scholarship funded by the U.S. Department of State. At the onset of the invasion, the U.S. Department of State determined that the foreign exchange students from Ukraine would remain and finish their senior year in the United States. Ross was privileged to meet eight other Ukrainian students in this predicament. After their graduation, these students chose to continue with their education in Iowa. They needed funds to apply for Temporary Protective Status and work permits with the U.S. Department of State.

The original charcoal studies for the painting were sold, and the funds generated created The Humanitarian Legal Fund at Drake University Law Clinic. This fund was established with $20,000.00 and was used to cover students’ expenses incurred in filings with the U.S. Department of State. In addition, Grinnell College and the University of Northern Iowa supported these students with full tuition scholarships.

The University of Northern Iowa Foundation displayed the Ukraine ’22 Project to continue raising awareness of the war, fundraising for the eight students UNI had accepted. Approximately $100,000.00 has been raised or pledged for the Ukrainian Student Scholarship Fund there.

Exhibit Images