GCDS Student's Ukrainian-Inspired Artwork Featured at Bruce Museum

Junior Sophie Patchen’s artwork "One Dog Bed" was selected for the prestigious Bruce Museum's iCreate 2025 exhibition.

The annual juried exhibition, which opened on June 8, showcases exceptional artistic talent from high school students across CT, NY, and NJ. Sophie's work was chosen from a pool of 750 submissions representing 63 high schools throughout the tri-state area, with only 54 exceptional pieces selected for the final exhibition.

Sophie created her piece during this year's Art to Heart Upper School Intersession program, where she served as co-student leader. The oil paint and plaster on canvas work is a result of a collaboration with Hanna Zholnerchyk, a Ukrainian migrant and mother of GCDS alumna Marta Zholnerchy ’23.

Sophie worked with Hanna to create art reflecting her experience of leaving Ukraine when the war broke out, bringing only one of her two beloved dogs to America while her husband remained on the frontlines. The painting depicts both dogs side by side—the Ukrainian dog wearing a traditional headpiece and the American dog in a Statue of Liberty crown—sharing the same bed as a symbol of hope for future reunion.

"Create art, not war—always!" Hanna told Sophie, who incorporated sheet music from "Carol of the Bells," a Ukrainian song that reminded Hanna of home, as the painting's backdrop.

The Bruce Museum's iCreate exhibition celebrates emerging talent and provides young artists with the opportunity to display their work in a professional museum setting.