Painting Sunflowers for the Ukrainian People

[Hank77]

Bright yellow sunflowers set against a blue sky is one of many new murals blossoming on the Arkansas River Levee in Pueblo. It’s a mural dedicated to the people of Ukraine.

“I don't know if that does anything to the universe, but I hope so,” said Shannon Powers. “You know, just the feeling that there are people out there that care about you when you're suffering, I think is important.”

Powers is among the handful of artists working on the sunflowers. Longtime Pueblo Levee Mural coordinator Cynthia Ramu organized this group effort.

Artists paint Ukrainian sunflowers and dozens of other murals as art returns to the levee in Pueblo

Pueblo’s levee once held the Guinness World Record for the largest outdoor mural. But repairs to the levee destroyed that artwork. Now construction is done and artists are back at work.

www.cpr.org

With so much controversial news about Ukraine and much of it not very supportive I found this to be a bit of encouragement and comfort.

 

[Brihaha]

It is encouraging to see how many Americans can still be inspired to comfort and support others in need. It seems our society has become very entrenched in this instant gratification era exacerbated by the internet and technology. I love getting outdoors myself, but have little artistic talent. I can appreciate the ability and sacrifice of these motivated people though. Compassion is still alive in America. They set a good example for others with their art.

I visited Pueblo and the Springs back in 2015 for a couple weeks. I love it out there in Colorado and the people were quite nice. An eclectic group of diverse individuals whom I found engaging and interesting. If Virginia wasn't so comfortable I could easily live there.