When people think of artists, they envision paint-splattered dilettantes dabbling in landscapes and still-life renderings of fruit or flowers. Rarely do they credit artists with shaping public opinion on war and politics. That viewpoint was challenged in February when Leesburg’s westward neighbor Hillsboro hosted a combined literary discussion, art exhibit, and auction related to the “Art of War.”
At least three types of artists frequently develop what can be called the fine art of war—not to be confused with Sun Tsu’s treatise on how to conduct warfare. Editorial cartoonists, combat artists, and illustrators each provide visual interpretations of what armed conflicts look like and how they impact local, regional, and global communities.
For the second time since the Ukraine War began on February 24, 2022, the Loudoun County hamlet of Hillsboro (population 120) held a fundraiser to raise relief funds for Ukrainians. Joining myself as a resident Hillsboro artist were award-winning cartoonists Steve Artley, Paul Fell, Stilson Greene, Kevin Kalagher, and Pulitzer-prize winners Joel Pett and Signe Wilkinson. Watercolor artists from the David J. Rogers studios in California joined local sculptors Sabine Arndt and Kat Avila by donating fine art.
As in the past, the town’s effort was led by Mayor Roger Vance and Paul Hrebenak, the President of the Hillsboro Preservation Foundation (HPF). Contributing to the cause and organization of the 2023 event were many stalwart volunteers of the town’s eclectic community of professionals. For the second time, Ukrainian Embassy First Secretary Katarina Smagliy represented Ukraine at the event.
For its first effort in April 2022, Hillsboro held a “Music in the Gap” concert with regional bands donating their time and talents along with multiple local and national artists contributing original, Ukrainian-themed art to raise funds for World Central Kitchen and Save the Children. The effort raised $20,000 via ticket sales, a silent art auction, and cash donations by Loudoun citizens. The February fundraiser, offering up political cartoons, wrought-iron sculpture, paintings and quilts, along with a Ukrainian-themed buffet, raised another $10,000, primarily for a newly forged humanitarian effort. But more on that later.
First, a bit of background on where the most recent effort originated. Around New Year’s, Hillsboro Mayor Roger Vance asked this writer and his wife (both artists) to solicit contributions of political art and editorial cartoons from their American colleagues in support of the war-torn country. But the theme for the fundraiser, Ukraine Aid ’23 (UA23), actually originated west of the Blue Ridge Mountains with West Virginia art promoters Anne Weshinskey and Arni Gudmundsson, who do much of their work in Europe, and so have an extensive network of their own overseas. Outrage and concern about the plight of Ukrainians thus united artists from Sweden and Ukraine with those in Hillsboro, Leesburg, Lovettsville, Hagerstown, Pennsylvania and as far away as California and Hawai’i.
The work of a young Swedish artist, Ludvig Ödman, anchored the show. He is married to a Ukrainian artist, Anastasia Polubotko. Ludwig initially was depressed by the Russian invasion and started sketching to raise his own spirits. His work quickly evolved to effectively pillory Russia’s role in the conflict, and – revived – he resolved to draw one pen-and-ink cartoon a day. As the war dragged on, Ludvig’s collection has, lamentably, grown. A book of his “Ukraine Drawings” was published as Special Military Operations on the anniversary of the invasion. (Interested buyers can email Ludvig at ludvigodman@gmail.com.)
When the war began, Ludvig’s in-laws, blacksmiths Sergey and Olga Polubotko, were living in Ukraine but were forced to evacuate their homeland. (They currently reside in Brooklyn, New York.) Famous artisans themselves, Sergey and Olga founded Blacksmiths Without Borders, a group of European metal sculptors and artists that are working to keep their brethren inside the war zone alive and functioning, believing that such workers will be vital in rebuilding Ukraine’s infrastructure when the war is over.
So it is that across an ocean, and united by the Internet, a humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine became a family affair. Ludvig has sold hundreds of his prints to buy vans for use inside Ukraine as makeshift ambulances or vehicles for first responders. When the first ambulance was purchased, Ludwig himself drove it from Norrköping, Sweden. "From Norrköping we take the ferry from Karlskrona to Gdynia in Poland. From Gdynia, we choose the most suitable border crossing into Ukraine, then on to our destination, usually Ivano-Frankivsk, where we deliver vehicles to the medical teams inside Ukraine. It is a very long trip!" That's an understatement, as the journey takes about 30 hours.
Sergey and other blacksmiths have sold metal sculptures, including the iconic Ukrainian sunflowers they brought to the Hillsboro auction. It has all been enough to purchase 30 vehicles, fill them with humanitarian supplies and drive them to the war zone. Their efforts are, with some camouflage to protect the international participants in this supply chain, detailed on their Facebook page, Union for Ukraine-Smeder utan granser.
As a longtime combatant, intelligence officer, and U.S. Navy Cold War Combat Artist on the battlefields and backwaters of four continents and twenty countries, the response of Ludvig and his associates over the fate of Ukrainian civilians caught in the crossfire naturally resonated with me – as it did with my editorial cartoonist and fine artist friends. Working together for UA23, we assembled sixty-five works by American artists to add to the hundred-plus drawings and sculptures donated by our new European colleagues. The local charity, Joshua’s Hands, which earlier made hundreds of quilts to send to Ukraine, sold a few that weren’t finished in time for their earlier relief package.
For this writer, the chance to do something—anything—for the people of Ukraine, was a privilege. While the subject matter surely draws strong reactions, art has power that sometimes even words do not. As an editorial cartoonist, I have experienced first-hand the power of ridicule to impact public opinion. Laugh heartily at evil doers and they cringe – the more derision, the better.
But understand that our overwhelming motivation is not hatred but hope. We all hope that the powers that be soon will be able to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. (I even painted the HOPE sign that now stands in front of the Old Stone Schoolhouse in Hillsboro that is lit every night to share that vision with our neighbors!
Ludvig Odman will continue to poke the Bear from Sweden with his cartoons and to deliver small but greatly appreciated love gifts to the long-suffering Ukrainians. What Ludvig and U.S. cartoonists did together in our Art of War fundraiser this February won’t end the war, not by a long shot. Folks in the gap will continue to “care,” using everything in our power for the good of our fellow man and to alleviate suffering however we can.