~ by David Elley
The Sunflower Dreams Project is a multinational nonprofit hosting a series of children’s art exhibitions in Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America. It is created and supported by a team of multinational volunteers, all of whom have served in Ukraine, since the full-scale war started in 2022. The artwork is created by children who have experienced trauma in Ukraine. Through therapeutic art sessions they can dream, remember, and hope. Each piece of art is a small piece of a child’s soul.
Our volunteers come from many places: Czech Republic, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, England, Scotland, Canada, the United States, Romania, and more. Co-founders David Elley, a UK/US dual-citizen living in Seattle and Katerina Bolinova, a Czech, started the art exhibitions in April 2024 in Prague. Since then we have presented 30 exhibitions in 10 countries: our largest were in the Parliament of Scotland in January 2025 and in the Portsmouth Cathedral in England in February 2025.
Now, we have returned to the Puget Sound, in Port Hadlock, to host an exhibition and fundraiser for the children’s art program in Ukraine. The exhibition opens Sunday, January 11th and runs until February 15th in the Bayside Gallery at the Old Alcohol Plant Inn in Port Hadlock. Visitors can purchase high-quality prints and some original works coming all the way from Ukraine.
The Sunflower Dreams Project, like UDS, is 100% volunteer run. It does not receive support from any government and we are not funded by an NGP/NPO or charity. We do this because we believe it is important.
The art originates with our partnership with Ukrainian artists Nataliia and Yustyna Pavliuk of Lviv, Ukraine, and the paintings are created by Ukrainian children in their art healing masterclasses, held 2-4 times weekly in Lviv. Visitors are surprised at the beauty, talent, and resilience shown in the paintings – works filled with dreams, joy, and love for family and home.
