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Sacred Arts Contest

With the blessing of our Hierarchs, we are pleased to announce an opportunity for the youth of our church to express their faith.
 
The Consistory Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry wants to encourage youth and young adults to explore their creative talents and to glorify God through art, with the Annual Ukrainian Orthodox Church Sacred Arts Contest.  The SAC will take place every three years in conjunction with the Sobor.

Part of our mission, is to provide youth and college aged young adults the opportunity to become more involved with their faith, while showcasing the talented and creative youth we have within in our Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. We want our youth to realize that having fun and utilizing creativity can be manifested in a project that shows how they correlate their life with their faith.

Provided on this page are the rules and entry information for the contest. We ask that you encourage all youth and college students to participate.  Prizes will be awarded for first and second place. This year we will be focusing on visual arts. Participants may make their submission in any visual art form: drawing, painting, watercolor, computer design.

Questions about the contest may be made to the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry at uocyouth@aol.com
How the Contest Works!
 
A topic will be announced is August 2022.
 
Entry Artforms: All Art Forms!  Visual Arts (drawings, paintins, graphic design, photography, sculpture, video(short film) etc) and Performing arts (composition, singing, dance)

Entrants will be judged within their age category

Make sure to review the rules and regulations to make sure your artwork is submitted correctly.

All entrants will be on display on-line. Votes for the People's Choice will take place during the Sobor. All winner will be announced during the Sobor.


Topic, Age Groups, Resources
 

2022 Information will be released in August 2022.

Winning Prizes
 
1st Place Winners will receive a custom Christmas Ornament of your winning photo and and a $40 Amazon Gift Card! Use of the winning photos will be used as a profile image on one of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA social media sites and featured in the Ukrainian Orthodox Word.

2nd Place Winners will receive an Amazon Gift Card!

All participants will receive a small gift of thanks for their participation! 
2019 Sacred Arts Contest Entries

Thank you to all of our entries and winners!  There are four age categories to view. Hover over each piece of art to read what the entrants parish means to them. Click on the art work for a better view! Placements are listed within the text.

2019 Judges - Thank you!

Michael Andrec - UOC Consistory Office of Archieves - Archivist 

Fr. Vasyl Dovgan - Pastor, St. Nicholas UOC - Troy, NY

Natalia Honcharenko - Ukrainian History and Education Center - South Bound Brook, NJ

Vitaliy Hrytsay - Owner Vitaliy Hrytsay Business Signage - Philadelphia, PA

Elizabeth Symonenko - Editor - Ukrainian Orthodox Word 

 

2019 Sacred Arts Entrants Group A ages 4-6

(8 images)

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Daniel Nahursky - Age 6 - Portland, OR - Family with which we pray every Sunday to get God's grace.
Garret Oleksa - Age 5 - Carnegie, PA - This is the inside of my church. The way I see it from my seat. In front is Fr. John. Next to him is his angel. The big angel is our iconostas.
Group A Second Place and People's Choice Runner Up- Lisanna Prysianzhna Age 4 - Chicago, IL - I like to go t communion.
Group A First Place - Mikita Zybachynsky Age 6 - Portland, OR - My parish teaches me to pray and brings my family and friends together.
Sasha Forester Age 4 - Portland, OR - Characters. Friends. Celebration!!!
Seamus Hamilton Age 6 - Charlottesville, VA - My art shows my church logo. I love my church. My church is really pretty and I like my priest Fr. Robert. I have friends and the food is really good.
Sebastian Charest Age 4 - Carnegie, PA - This is the front of the altar. In the middle are the royal doors. The deacon doors are on the sides. Above the door is the last supper and next to it are the apostles. On top is Noah's ark and the cross.
Veronkia Wisniowski Age 6 - Chicago, IL - I like to seek my friends at church.

Sacred Arts Group B Entries - Ages 7 - 9

(5 images)

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Category B Second Place - Danica Ost Age 7 - Northampton, PA - I picked this side of my church because I liked the way this side sparkled because that's where the sun was!
David Mykytyuk Age 9 - Portland, OR - What a parish means to me is that when you enter the church, always crest yourself because it is important to Jesus and God.
Max Mykytyuk Age 7 - Portland, OR - Church is so you can go pray.
Category B First Place and People's Choice Runner-up - Natalie Hamilton Age 8 - Charlottesville, VA - It shows when Metropolitan Antony visited our parish. St. Nicholas parish means a lot to me, because the people are really special. They are like family and Fr. Robert is really nice.
Sasha Altman Age 9 - Portland, OR - My parish is important to me because we sing to God. It brings my family together to pray.

Sacred Arts Category C - Ages 10 - 12

(7 images)

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Andrew Maddelen Age 12 - Trenton, NJ - My parish is important to me because it is where I serve the Lord. It is also where I go to pray for the ones I've lost. I feel that I have a God given talent for art and I thank the Lord for that!
Daniel Shushakov Age 10 - Portland, OR - My parish means loving God and fun and prayers.
Category C First Place Oleg Oleg Festyak Age 12 - Portland, OR - The landscapes on my picture represent peace. While the shepherd and the sheep mean God (shepherd) and the people (the sheep). And finally the church represents where the people pray on Sundays.
Category C Second Place Halyna Fronchak Age 10 - Chicago, IL - I like the front doors of our church and how nice it looks!
Category C Second Place Masha Malik Age 12 - Chicago, IL - I drew a picture of my church because it is where I go to practice my religion.
Category C Second Place Mary Kokuvshelli Age 11 - Carnegie, PA - I love all things about my parish and going to Liturgy.
People's Choice Runner Up - Adaptive Entry - Theodore Nixon Age 12 - Carnegie, PA - This is my church. I love my church. 3 crosses on top of my church. In the middle is our church party. Bottom right is Fr. John's house. Fr. John's dog Lucky is in the house.

Sacred Arts Category D - Ages 13 -18

(1 images)

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Category D First Place Sophia Komsha Age 13 - Portland, OR - I have written a haiku within my entry to tell what my parish means to me.

Sacred Arts Category E - College

(3 images)

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People's Choice Winner and Category E Second PlaceAndrianna Fitza - Bensenville, IL - Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Bensenville IL is my parish. Everyone is very welcoming, and treats each other like family. Our priests are role-models for us - models of spiritual strength, and how to be active in a positive way within our community. Our parish keeps our wonderful Ukrainian tradition, with various activities throughout the week. We know that the Trinity holds and protects our parish, and that is what I depicted in my sketch.
People's Choice Runner-up Anna Swindle, Arnold, PA - My parish is important to me in multiple ways. It has given me a second family who love and care for me like I am their own child. The church has also given me the Ten Commandments which I use everyday in my personal life in a way I should act.
Category E First Place Victoria Swindle - Arnold, PA - I decided to a water color painting of a stained glass window in my church. Every Ukrainian Orthodox Church has a different style to their windows that makes them unique. Just like the windows each parishioner at my church shines bright in their own way because they have their hearts filled with the love our our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2018 Faith & Photography Winners

We are pleased to congratulate this year's winners of the Faith & Photography Contest! To view the larger photo, view the slideshow. Hover over the image to learn about the contestant and how their photo was important to the history of their parish.

(6 images)

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Ages 10 -12 Second Place Qorey Carter - My photo is of Bishop Joseph A. Zuk. He is an important part of my church’s history. When he came to serve in my church in 1931 he was Fr. Joseph Zuk. This year we celebrated 100 years of orthodoxy in America and I learned that Father Zuk was ordained as the first bishop in the new Orthodox Church of America in 1932. Bishop Zuk was the first fulltime pastor in our church. He continued to serve at St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church until he died in 1934.
Ages 10 -12 1st Place Alexandra Sabin - The picture I took shows a piece of my parish’s history because it shows the name of the people that helped to build the parish we currently worship in. The children of the original benefactors(as seen in the photo) still come to my church, which I get to see every Sunday. The history of our parish lives with them.
College 1st Place Victoria Swindle - From the help of my parish priest, I was fortunate enough to handle and look at the original blueprints that were drawn for my parish in the year 1927. Just two years later, the building was complete and families along with friends came together under the Ukrainian Orthodox faith to worship. As the years went by, hundreds of people have walked through the doors, and as a current member I am proud to be apart of the rich history of this church.
Ages 13 -18 Second Place Clarissa Sabin - This picture shows a piece of my parish's history because it shows the time capsule of my parish. When our parish was first built in 1941, the builders and priests present decided to make this capsule in order for the next generation to discover. No one knows what is in the time capsule, but in 2041 (100 years after the parish was built) the time capsule will be opened by the current members of the parish. History will be discovered within it.
Ages 13 - 18 Third Place Anna Swindle - I chose to take a picture of the priest and his wife who founded my parish. One of the parishioners of my church is the granddaughter of this couple, which just shows how the word of Jesus Christ can truly last from generations to generations. 93 years ago this couple made the decision to build my parish and I am beyond grateful for them doing so, because I wouldn’t be who I am today without my parish.
Ages 13 - 18 First Place Ryan Anderson - My photo is a picture of a very intricate gospel. This gospel tells a special history about what the first parishioners of our parish used during the liturgy. This gospel dates back to the beginning of our church over 100 years ago. My great-grandparents venerated the same gospel I serve with.
Office of Youth Ministries

 

The Office of Youth Ministries is the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries and Office of Camping Ministries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA.

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Patron Saints

 

Learn about St. Christina of Tyre and St. Julian of Tarsus who are the Patron Saints for the youth of the UOC of USA.

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To order Icon prayer cards of the St. Christina and St. Julian Icon for your parish youth contact the Office of Youth Ministry.

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Mailing Address

Office of Youth Ministry

PO Box 869
Carnegie, PA 15106

Email and Telephone

uocyouth@aol.com

412-977-2010 (Phone)