WENA PROGRAMME
2024/01/17
“Wena” Gallery opens!
Five editions of the Starak Family Foundation’s “Wena” Grant Programme Competitions and their lasting effect, in both the broad and narrow sense, culminated in the December 2023 opening of the “Wena” Gallery, the exhibition space of the Starak Family Foundation at ul. Bobrowiecka 8 in Warsaw.
The gallery exhibits outstanding works created as part of the educational and artistic projects awarded under the “Wena” Grant Programme Competitions, which the Starak Family Foundation has been conducting since 2019, produced by high schools of fine arts or clearly inspired by them.
The “Wena” Gallery of the Starak Family Foundation, ul. Bobrowiecka 8 in Warsaw
The final works presented exemplify the maturity of young artists unearthed and shaped by the attending teacher, profound message, unique techniques, and media of expression employed, as well as teamwork as a project method.
The “Wena” Gallery of the Starak Family Foundation, ul. Bobrowiecka 8 in Warsaw
The Gallery’s creation was motivated and inspired by visits to schools of fine arts, who produced the educational and artistic concepts awarded in the “Wena” Grant Programme Competitions. Young artists’ creations often end up hidden in drawers, cupboards, or schools. When we talked with them, we heard, above all, a great desire and exploration of suitable spaces to present their work in public, outside of the school studio. This is an expression of every artist’s inherent need to engage in dialogue with the audience.
Just as every journey begins with the first step, every gallery begins its life with the first painting. We decided to start by juxtaposing the material effects of two scalable projects, important for the artistic development of students, which exceeded the school curriculum: The High School of Fine Arts in Żory, under the wing of a teacher and an artist, Małgorzata Szram-Lipka, PhD, was awarded for their project, “Personal Fragments”, in the 3rd edition of the Starak Family Foundation’s “Wena” Grant Programme Competition entitled “The world from my window” and The Jacek Malczewski High School of Fine Arts in Częstochowa was awarded a grant for the project “Culture doesn’t hurt. Me+You=We!”, realised under the wing of graphic design teachers Elżbieta Siwik and Agnieszka Tyrman, in the 2nd edition of the “Wena” Grant Programme Competition entitled “Closeness and interpersonal relations”.
The first work of art to grace the halls of the “Wena” Gallery was a photograph of the large-format mosaic “Personal Fragments”, created through the cooperation of students participating in the project. The original mosaic is exhibited in the High School of Fine Arts in Żory. The gallery exhibition focuses on a detail of the mosaic in the form of two original fragments created by Amelia Ćwiek, a student at the High School of Fine Arts in Żory.
A photograph of a large-format mosaic created as part of the “Personal Fragments” project
A detail of the mosaic in the form of an original fragment
– a tile created by Amelia Ćwiek, a student at the High School of Fine Arts in Żory
A detail of the mosaic in the form of an original fragment
– a tile created by Amelia Ćwiek, a student at the High School of Fine Arts in Żory
Martyna Zniszczoł, a student, participated in the above project. It gave her the opportunity to experience the art of mosaic in practice during workshops organised at the Grześkiewicz Studio in Warsaw. The student’s enormous passion for the “Personal Fragments” project, learning new techniques in practice, as well as the exceptional mentoring and guidance of Małgorzata Szram-Lipka, PhD, through large-format works awakened the creative potential and gave this young artist courage. It also influenced her decision to create a large-scale mosaic as her graduation work. Zniszczoł created a mosaic entitled “Two omens – hope and rebirth”. The work was lauded by the artistic community, awarded during her graduation examination and at the Distinguished Diploma Works Biennale in Częstochowa. The Starak Family Foundation also appreciated the work and decided to purchase it. The mosaic is currently exhibited at the “Wena” Gallery and is a flagship example of how valuable it is for students to go beyond the school curriculum, which can make them reach new heights, arouse passion, ignite the imagination, and are the proverbial spark.
Graduation Work of Martyna Zniszczoł, graduate of the High School of Fine Arts in Żory,
large-format mosaic entitled “Two omens – hope and rebirth”
You can learn more about this exceptional work in the following article:
https://starakfoundation.org/pl/spectraedu/news/mozaika_wyjatkowy_dyplom_w_zorach
We are proud to highlight the High School of Fine Arts in Częstochowa’s project – a collection of exceptional posters created as part of the eighth edition of the social action “Culture doesn’t hurt” under the motto “Me+You=We!”. The students responded to the competition’s theme of “Closeness and interpersonal relations” through their posters by addressing issues such as tolerance, closeness, trust, respect, empathy, and contrasted them with aggression, isolation, hatred in shared public spaces. The project went beyond fulfilling the grant requirements. The Competition Jury distinguished it for its sustained and continued character. The collection of socially conscious posters exhibited at the “Wena” Gallery highlights the activism and social involvement of the arts.
A collection of socially conscious posters created as part the High School of Fine Arts in Częstochowa’s project
Report from project implementation:
The works exhibited in the Gallery were highly praised by Ewa Klekot, PhD, an anthropologist of culture and art, translator, assistant professor at the SWPS University in Warsaw, and a member of the Starak Family Foundation’s “KUNSZT Craftsmanship” Programme Jury, aimed at supporting new artistic craft. She also emphasised the importance of both the Gallery and the entire “Wena” Grant Programme, which brings together and develops young artists. The “Wena” Grant Programme Jury visited the Gallery and showed appreciation for the quality and selection of the works, as well as the social importance of their publication, as young artists who want to continue their artistic journey can highlight and expand their portfolios.
The “Wena” Grant Programme Jury touring the exhibition at the “Wena” Gallery
The “Wena” Grant Programme Jury touring the exhibition at the “Wena” Gallery
From the left:
- Sebastian Cichocki – curator of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw,
- Prof. Tomasz Milanowski, Academy of Fine Arts – dean of the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw,
- Prof. Piotr Korduba, PhD hab., Adam Mickiewicz University – Vice-Chairperson of the Jury, Head of the History of Art Institute, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
- Helena Czernecka – art historian,
- Michał Borowik – art collector, Borowik Collection
- Wiesława Giedrojć – member of the Starak Family Foundation Management Board
