GATHERING AROUND THE FIRE:
ARTS, HEALING, AND RESILIENCE
Jessica Hecht / Alexandra Zaslav / The Campfire Project (New York, NY, US)
Mariana Ivanovych / Marcin Piotrowski / Folkowisko (Nahachiv, Ukraine)
THE PROJECT
Gathering Around the Fire establishes a therapeutic arts camp in Nahachiv, Western Ukraine, bringing together children and youth from local and displaced populations to process war trauma, build resilience, and strengthen community connection through creative practice. Over one intensive week in summer 2026, approx 50 young participants engage in daily six-hour programming rotating through dance, visual art, theater, and music—all delivered through a trauma-informed, culturally adaptive framework. The project also includes an arts and health training program for local social workers, educators, and artists working with children: a three-day intensive workshop that will provide guidance, resources, and real-time experiences in designing and implementing therapeutic arts programming. The training takes a trauma-informed approach that adapts psychosocial support for humanitarian contexts, and will be led by mental health professionals, creative arts therapists, and international artists, drawing on resources from the WHO and Jameel Arts and Health Lab.
THE PARTNERSHIP
The Campfire Project, an arts-and-health leader in therapeutic programming with displaced communities, partners with Folkowisko Ukraine, a cultural and educational organization based in the Lviv region. The Campfire Project brings expertise in therapeutic arts methodologies and trauma recovery frameworks, while Folkowisko contributes deep local knowledge of the humanitarian context, community relationships, and the culturally grounding practice of folk tradition as a bridge-building tool.
LOOKING AHEAD
Expansion of therapeutic arts programming with Ukrainian youth and families in the Lviv region. Training of local practitioners to integrate creative arts therapy into education, mental health, and humanitarian support systems, ensuring sustained, community-led continuation of the work beyond the initial pilot.
