Edition 1
The 1st edition of the competition of the Grant Program "Wena" of the Starak Family Foundation was organized in the school year 2019/2020 - a competition for an educational and artistic project on any topic.
We were pleasantly surprised by the wide response from schools, teachers, and students as we received 58 applications with ideas for educational and artistic projects. The Competition Jury recommended 11 projects for the Foundation Board’s consideration for the awarding of grants. Most of the projects, in spite of the difficulties caused by the pandemic and the resulting schedule shifts, were splendidly implemented.
An example of one of the most interesting projects is "Tracing Polish Minerals Used in Jewelry. Striped flint - a stone of optimism," in which students from the Art School Complex in Katowice created original jewelry designs. The final effect of the students' and teachers' work was presented at an exhibition at the District Museum in Sandomierz. A set of three brooches "Flint Landscapes" by Martyna Przegendza and a pendant "Loneliness" by Dominik Gocała were honored and included in the permanent collection of the Sandomierz Museum with the world's only collection of jewelry and art objects created with striped flint endemically occurring in the Sandomierz area. In the opinion of the artists, the works of all the participants in the project stood out for their interesting form, precision of workmanship, and freedom of combining precious metal with graphic, painterly stone.
The ceremonial presentation of grants of the first edition of the competition took place on September 28, 2019, at the Starak Family Foundation headquarters during the Gala inaugurating the "Wena" Grant Program. The Gala was attended by Anna and Jerzy Starak, Agnieszka Woźniak-Starak, as well as members of the Competition Jury and invited guests associated with the world of art and culture, including: Andrzej Pągowski, Bartosz Górny, Michał Zaborowski, Paweł Grunert, Małgorzata Bela, Maria Sadowska and Małgorzata Szumowska.
News
2024/03/20
“It all starts with just a pencil and paper,” – says Jakub Strzelecki, the Commissioner of the 9th All-Polish Self-Portrait Drawings Biennale of Fine Arts School Students – Radom 2023. On 15 March, the “Wena” Gallery of the Starak Family Foundation at ul. Bobrowiecka 8 in Warsaw opened its 1st temporary exhibition of works created by fine arts school students, awarded, and distinguished at the Self-Portrait Drawings Biennale. The gallery was created to highlight the youngest artists.
2024/01/17
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.
2022/06/23
A school presentation of a series of dioramas made using spatial models, showing the world outside the window, ended on 23 June with a project awarded in the 3rd edition of the Starak Family Foundation's "Wena" Grant Programme entitled „Świat z mojego okna” or "The world from my window". "The world from my window" - a project of the State Secondary School of Fine Arts in Poznań entitled „Poza ramy dioramy" or "Outside the frame of a diorama”.
