United by music and art for the sake of children

Renovation project of Bucha Children's Art School

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For 33 days, Bucha was under Russian occupation, enduring constant shelling.

days, Bucha was under Russian occupation, enduring constant shelling.

The city experienced all the horrors of war. Russian occupiers damaged over 2,500 buildings in the city, with 305 completely destroyed or severely damaged. The Bucha Children’s Art School was also adversely affected.

After the city was liberated, displaced families with children began coming back to their homes despite the ongoing war. This brave return inspired many to come together to restore the art school so that children could have a comfortable place to continue their education. After all, it’s well-known that art can heal, especially in times of war.

CHARITY PROJECT INITIATORS

How did the school restoration initiative come to be?

June 18, 2022:

Concert For Tomorrow, featuring the Munich Symphony Orchestra stars and Ukrainian musicians, took place at the Munich Philharmonic. The event raised initial funding to restore the Bucha Children’s Art School.

August 2022:

The German airline Lufthansa and its employees’ foundation, help alliance, joined as the main sponsors thanks to donations from passengers on their flights to the project.

September 2022:

The Ukrainian partner and project coordinator, the BGV Charity Fund, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Bucha City Council.

Project budget

approximately
million hryvnias

Number of specialists

working on the project

Execution timeline

months

Worked on renovation

contractor companies

Before

After

Renovation took place in four stages

Stage I: Internal repair works

October 2022:

Renovation started.

December 2022:

The first stage of the project was completed — all internal repairs were finished.
The roof, parapets, fences, and porch were restored; part of the classrooms and communication systems were repaired; the central restroom was redeveloped and equipped; windows and some doors were replaced; modern navigation elements were installed in the building, and the space was arranged to ensure barrier-free access for students.

December 2022:

The fund and partners provided 40 laptops to teachers, and handed over a batch of musical instruments (seven modern electronic pianos, four guitars, six modern synthesizers, two cellos, three violins, and an accordion) to the children. One hundred annual scholarships for learning were awarded to students.

Stage II: Facade upgrade and educational training for teachers

February 2023:

The Bucha Children’s Art School received an 87 kW capacity generator, valued at 1.1 million hryvnias, to operate during constant power outages caused by Russian shelling.

March 2023:

German partners allocated an additional 2 million hryvnias to the project. The school received two violins and two cellos from Michael Jaumann.

June 2023:

The fully updated facade of the building was presented.
The school hosted a series of workshops for students and teachers by invited experts.
Over 30 teachers from the Bucha Children’s Art School completed courses to improve the teaching methods of specialized disciplines (40 hours of training) and an inclusive education program (30 hours of training).

Stage III: Equipment and furnishing

July 2023 – August 2023:

Equipment — 20 easels, 20 tablets, and a TV panel for organizing online lessons and video tutorials — was purchased for students attending visual arts classes.

September 2023:

The fund and partners supported the arrangement of classrooms and the concert hall and purchased a high-quality acoustic system for vocal lessons.
The long-standing dream of teachers and students also came true — the school started an orchestral class. The benefactors purchased musical instruments, including alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, trumpet, tenor trombone, clarinet, flute, baritone, tuba, and alto horn, for the children’s brass band.
In 15 classrooms, the project helped completely update chairs and tables, purchase office chairs for teachers, cabinets for papers and clothes, and hangers with benches.

STAGE ІV: STAGE REPAIR AND EXTRA EQUIPMENT

JANUARY 2024–MARCH 2024

The stage has been fully repaired, and another batch of needed equipment, valued at €10,000, has been purchased for student training;;
Musical instruments and cases for them, 20 music stands, a combo amplifier, an instrument cable, a bass guitar and strap, an acoustic system, a microphone, an interactive panel, and a mobile stand have been acquired;
Fifty pairs of footwear, including shoes and boots, have been purchased and provided for the educational institution’s dance ensembles.

“We sincerely thank our German and Ukrainian partners for our new School of Arts in Bucha. Now, it is not only modern and well-equipped but also accessible. Such support during the war is truly invaluable, as projects like these bring children back home,”

— said Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk.

Inclusion: Ensuring access to education for children with special educational needs

One of the important parts of the project was arranging an accessible space and organizing proper learning at the Bucha Children’s Art School to ensure barrier-free access for children with disabilities to all classes.

Five children with special educational needs are currently studying at the Bucha Children’s Art School.

Bucha School of Arts today

students

ower

teachers

specialties:

Piano; Bowed string instruments; Folk; Theoretical; Visual arts; Vocal; Choreography.

students with special educational needs

Media coverage of the renovation

The charity project to renovate the Bucha Children’s Art School has been actively covered in Ukrainian media and currently has over 100 mentions.