Rubenfeld got a close-up view of the war’s frightening effects as many fleeing western Ukraine crossed over the border to seek refuge in Poland. He and his wife took in a Ukrainian woman and her mother soon after the invasion. Their home quickly filled with tourniquets, bandages and other supplies as the woman led efforts to collect supplies to distribute to the Ukrainian army.
“There was just so much news and so much noise about the war that we wanted to ensure that there was also a contribution of the human element, the cultural element to also keep people rooted in the fact that we’re dealing with humans,” he said. They were able to source more than 130 pieces of original artwork from roughly 40 artists across Ukraine.They built a network of people to help. Their goal was to get everything to Lviv, in western Ukraine, where they had two storehouses. The art was then transported by truck to Krakow. It took about two months to collect everything.
“The exchange is not that you bought a piece of art, it’s that you’ve actually contributed to a people who are trying to preserve their country and culture.”“Art has helped me feel a little less pain and now it my attention from war to art,” she said by phone from the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine.