To stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who have suffered under an invasion for almost a month now, Jadwiga Dunin-Borkowska, the art teacher at Pontiac High School had her students paint sunflowers, a symbol of Ukrainian national identity.

Soon after March break, her students started working on their paintings and Dunin-Borkowska said many of them still were not aware of the war, so this exercise was a great way to . . .

inform them and have the kids think about world issues.

“They realize the power they have and that’s part of the project, to realize the power of the visual image,” she said.

Dunin-Borkowska believes that art is a powerful medium, as art is visual and it can be either in your face or can be subtle and make you think. “They have power as artists to express an issue that is important to them, and to reach an audience. It’s more powerful sometimes even than the written word because it is so immediate.”

Dunin-Borkowska said this exercise made some of her students feel more aware, and it allowed them to express themselves creatively in a meaningful way.

One student said this experience taught her that you can show something in a symbolic way without necessarily putting it into words.

“Because even though it’s not happening here, it’s really important that we sort of acknowledge it, even just knowing that it’s happening and even doing little things, like making a painting. It is our way of saying, like, we know what’s happening, there’s not much we can do but we acknowledge it, and we stand with it,” said Emma Smith, an eighth grader at PHS.

For Dunin-Borkowska, the project was a good first step to have her students focus on a current world issue that was important to learn about but also it meant something personal to Dunin-Borkowska, who is of Polish descent. For her, it was an opportunity to teach her students that they can stand for something and use a visual medium to make a statement.

“I am very worried that we will begin to ignore, even forget the events of this war if indeed it does drag on for months. Like Afghanistan, which just happened this past summer, will the story about the unjust war against Ukraine become an occasional short segment at the end of a page, a tiny photo op,” said Dunin-Borkowska.

“Those sunflowers represent that and my student artists have the power to present that to others. To remind others. And perhaps more of us will take action to help,” she said.

Since the invasion of Russia into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, more than 4.5 million Ukrainians have led the country and a quarter of the population was displaced. It has been reported that about 3,838 civilian casualties in the country according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

During their art class, the students were working on new art pieces where each of them were asked to express an issue that was important to them visually.

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!