January 27 at the Voronezh Regional Art Museum. I.N. Kramskoy, the solemn opening of the exhibition of works by the Voronezh artist Valentina Sumina “While the Sun Shines” took place.

The exhibition presents works of graphics, sculpture, ceramics and painting created by the author over more than half a century of work. All of them reveal the main themes of the master’s work: love for the motherland, Russian history, admiration for heroic countrymen.

Honorary guests took part in the opening ceremony: Bronislav Tabachnikov – art historian, art critic, Alexei Smirnov – chairman of the board of the Voronezh branch of the Union of Artists of Russia, Sergey Rudakov – deputy chairman of the Voronezh Regional Duma, chairman of the committee on culture and historical heritage, Vyacheslav Lyuty – literary and theatrical critic, member of the Union of Writers of Russia, Gennady Kovalev – Doctor of Philology, Professor, Head of the Department of Slavic Philology of the Faculty of Philology of the Voronezh State University.

“Each canvas presented at the exhibition contains a mood, and beyond that, an insight into the essence of the character that the artist recreates,” said Bronislav Tabachnikov.

“Valentina Sumina is so purposeful, so capable that the Union of Artists is immensely proud of such a master and repeatedly sets an example for others,” said Alexei Smirnov.

“In the work of Valentina Sumina, we will always find the imprint of time, the specificity of this or that character, and finally, everything is done extremely individually – by composition or by a color spot, you will always see that all this is Suminov’s,” Vyacheslav Lyuty said.

Oksana Lepneva, acting director of the museum, read out two congratulatory addresses received by the artist from the All-Russian creative public organization “Union of Artists of Russia” and the traveler, archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts Fyodor Konyukhov.

Many warm and kind words were addressed to Valentina Iosifovna from colleagues, friends and admirers of her work during the evening. Many flowers were presented to the hero of the occasion. The guests shared their memories of meeting the artist, life stories related to her.

The curator of the project, the head of the creative marketing project “Mosaic” Zhanna Korneva expressed her gratitude from all those who were lucky enough to work with the artist on the creation of the exposition.

Valentina Sumina began her response with words about her colleagues who paid her boundless attention at the beginning of her career: these are sculptors Boris Shemardin and Alexander Meshcheryakov, as well as painter Zinovy ​​Popov. The author also spoke about the importance of help, sometimes completely disinterested, which comes from other people, in particular those who helped with the current exhibition.

About herself and her work, Valentina Sumina said briefly – “I tried!”.

A musical performance was prepared as a surprise for the artist. The group under the direction of Father Dmitry, deacon of the Assumption Cathedral, member of the Union of Composers, performed works by Voronezh composers based on verses by Valentina Sumina.

Everyone who wished could communicate with the artist and receive as a gift sets of postcards depicting her works.

The project is supported by NELZHA. RU

The exhibition will run until February 27, 2022.