On March 1^st Rayburn House in US Congress hosted a one-day exhibition of our students’ artwork  titled

“Russian orphans and their Aspirations: an exhibit of paintings by Russian orphans”. On display

were 50 art items (canvases, felt modeling, embroidery work) including 7 items from the private collection

of Patch Adams and photos by Oksana Yushko telling about the Studio’s activities and daily life.

It was Mariya Eliseeva and the Studio’s time-tested friend Chang Suh from US Congress who came up with the idea to organize the exhibition. The festive opening ceremony was hosted by Congressman James Moran, Patch Adams, Mariya Eliseeva and Ilya Segalovich. This is the Studio’s second Congress exhibition. The first one was organized in 2000.

A lot of our American friends travelled to Rayburn House to see the exhibition and to show their support for us. Some of them we didn’t see for 6 years.

It’s a great honor for the Studio to organize our exhibition in such a significant place as this. The event was a great opportunity to talk about the problems of Russian orphans, about our work. It was also a wonderfulchance to meet new friends who could help us in future.

 This exhibition wouldn’t be possible without our friends’ help.

We’d like to say many thanks to:

 1.    Ilya Segalovich for sponsoring the Studio’s trip to the USA

2.     Molly Debra for providing plane tickets at a discount price

3.     Ron Hale for help with booking our flight

4.     Patch Adams

5.     James Moran

6.     Suh Chang

7.     Meeting Tomorrow for a 35% discount on easels

8.     Taylor Reed Branson

9.     Wendy Atrokhov

10.  Justin Lifflander

11.  Kim Wepler

12.  Maria Stepanyan

13.  Rodney Daly

14.  Polina Loseva