The Power of a Paintbrush
When Lilia Stadnik fled Kherson in the early weeks of the war, she lost her home, her city and much of her sense of purpose. A trained art therapist, she found refuge in Warsaw. But purpose? That came later—when Mission for Ukraine asked her to lead art therapy classes for refugee mothers and children.
“Art is not a luxury,” Lilia often says. “It is medicine.”
Today, art is transforming lives across Warsaw. In quiet studios and museums, Ukrainian women and children are painting, sculpting, carving wood and cooking together. They’re not just making art. They’re healing.
From Modalińska to SolNest
It started modestly in late 2022. The Modalińska Refugee Center in Warsaw housed 4’500 Ukrainian women, children and elderly men. Mission for Ukraine connected with Lilia and offered to support her vision of art therapy for mothers and children who had fled the war with nothing but what they could carry.
We provided materials, space and a monthly stipend. Art became medicine.
As the community evolved, we moved Lilia’s classes to Hines Poland’s Wola Center in central Warsaw. And then, in September 2025, we opened SolNest—a dedicated art therapy space on the ground floor of a building across the Vistula River, still in central Warsaw’s heart.
SolNest is more than a studio. It’s a refuge. The name itself—”a resting place for the soul”—says everything.
Three Teachers, One Mission
Today, Mission for Ukraine supports three art therapy teachers:
Lilia Stadnik – She teaches art therapy two days a week for students at Love Does School (an Ukrainian school in Warsaw for children who cannot attend Ukrainian or Polish schools). She holds open art therapy classes four days a week and organizes quarterly exhibitions where her students display their work and share their stories.
Lyudmyla (refugee from Mariupol) – She teaches five days a week at three Ukrainian schools in Warsaw and holds Saturday art therapy sessions at the Museum of History of Polish Jews (POLIN). She also organises summer camps near Warsaw where her students paint, craft and play for five days a week.
Leszek (Polish partner) – He leads woodworking classes three days a week for Ukrainian refugee adults and children—a powerful, tactile form of trauma therapy.
All three teach occasionally at POLIN Museum, and together they reach about 200 Ukrainian women and children each week.
The Magic Kitchen
In December 2025, something new opened: the “Magic Kitchen” at SolNest. Our partner organisation Heart & Art Ukraine (based in Switzerland) donated a full kitchen and all its equipment. Now, cooking classes and sharing Ukrainian comfort food have become another form of trauma therapy.
It sounds simple: women and children gathering to cook traditional Ukrainian dishes—borscht, varenyky, fresh bread. But it is profound. Cooking together is an act of continuity, of keeping culture alive, of nourishing body and soul when both have been broken.
The Impact
What we’ve witnessed is remarkable. Women and children who arrived in Warsaw with haunted eyes now paint with bold colours. They laugh. They teach each other. They exhibit their art. They speak about their experiences.
Importantly, Lilia and Lyudmyla—who carry their own war trauma—have found healing in being teachers. By delivering hope and love to others, they’ve found a path through their own suffering.
As one refugee mother told us: “Art therapy gave me back myself.”
Where Art Meets Need
The classes aren’t just for children. Art therapy sessions serve:
- Cancer patients (war refugees)
Parents with special-needs children (war refugees) Disabled adults (war refugees) Orphans and pensioners
Everyone who walks through the door has a story of loss. Art gives them a way to process it—and to imagine a future.
What’s Next
As we expand, we’re exploring new locations and new formats. The dream is to take what works in Warsaw and replicate it across Poland—more studios, more teachers, more “SolNests” where Ukrainian women and children can heal through creativity.
Because, as Lilia says, art is not a luxury. It is essential.