The artist who loved Ukraine the most ...

The Village of Vyazovka of the Konotopsky district of the Sumy region included the whole world of the Great Ukrainian, our countryman, the connoisseur of truth and will, the thinker, the people's artist, the winner of the National Prize named after T. Shevchenko, the teacher, the man of full universal love - Nikolai Andreevich Storozhenka (1928 -2015). It was here that the Memorial Complex dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birthday of a dear fellow countryman was opened.
In this picturesque village in the family of workers, a future genius was born. It was to his native land Storozhenko and returned to the unique Museum complex, created by his talented pupil Alexander Tsugorko. M. Stroozhenka's land route has ended, but his creative achievements have become the bestseller of Ukrainian art, an example of pedagogical science, a new understanding of Kobzar's heritage. The versatility of his creative gift impresses the artist in the field of monumental art (where he mastered the ancient hot enakastiky), easel painting, iconography, graphics. Storozhenko constantly looked for a new imagery, was an experimenter in various types of fine arts. Each new work is a complete figurative, greatness of spirit, beauty of the soul, sanctification of feelings.
The creative path of the artist confirms the biblical truth from the First Epistle of St. Apostle Peter, where it says: "Serves one another with the gift, which received as the moderators of all the wives of God's blessing ...".
Mykola Storozhenko lived and worked in a self-created artistic realm, useless, selfless, with faith in an independent Ukraine. He was a sower of humane ideas, full of generosity and incredible optimism. The word the artist said was balanced and aimed at supporting others, full of desire to teach, to profit. Storozhenko not only taught him to blaze specialists, educated citizens of his state.
All the above is confirmed by the museum exposition, created using modern technology, a high culture of decorating exhibits, incredible cordiality and a desire to immortalize the name of its teacher. Each location tells about a separate period of life and stages of M. Stroozhenka's work. The original presentation of illuminated exhibits created a live performance in which bright unique art objects were spoken. Well-placed important accents: thanks to the parents, love for the family, the experience of important pages of the history of the Ukrainian people, the actual interpretation of Kobzar's heritage. The presented works reveal the genius of the creative gift of Nikolai Storozhenko. Before us, the artist who fully mastered the academic drawing, freely created complex multi-figure compositions, skillfully illustrated fairy tales, was a distinct interpreter of the Ukrainian literary classics. The exposition successfully transmits light, which was filled with the soul of Nikolai Storozhenko.

Valentine Yefremov, a fellow countryman, art critic, honored worker of Ukrainian culture.