On December 21, the patron community "Ambassadors of Culture", created to support the Museum of Odessa Modern Art, presented a scholarship for artists at the beginning of their career. The presentation was part of a series of pilot events, "Winter Seasons", within the framework of the Cultural Innovation Project, sited on the space of the Odessa Sparkling Wine Factory.

The scholarship has no restrictions on the medium with which the applicants work or the topic of work. The main goal is to support contemporary art. The scholarship will be awarded once a year to one author or group of authors. Its size is 10 thousand UAH per month for six months and a separate budget (30 thousand UAH) for the implementation of the project on the space of the Museum of Odessa Modern Art with curatorial support.

The Cultural Ambassador Scholarship is one of the main projects of the philanthropic community, which has existed for six months already. The search and support of contemporary Ukrainian artists at the beginning of their creative career lays the foundation for the formation of the culture of the future, which is the main mission of the community.

Olga Sidorushkina, coordinator of the community “Ambassadors of Culture”

The scholarship provides an opportunity for contemporary artists at the beginning of their creative careers to receive funding and curatorial, informational, and institutional support from the IISO. An all-Ukrainian open competition lasts until January 21, and the winner's name will be announced by the end of February 2022.

The location for the presentation was not chosen by chance. The building of the former Odessa Sparkling Wine Factory is actively revitalizing and will become an important cultural center next year. In particular, it was here the Odessa Museum of Modern Art moved.

We are now at the research stage: we are bringing up old blueprints, studying the history of the plant with the historian Alexander Babich, and communicating with cultural managers, artists, architects, and designers to better understand the needs of the cultural community.

Elena Podoprigora, executive director of the Cultural Innovation Project

The Odessa Museum of Modern Art has long grown out of the chamber format of a mansion on Leontovich Street and sets itself ambitious plans and tasks. Moving to the territory of the Odessa Sparkling Wine Factory makes it possible to finally create a museum, which in terms of architecture, area and scale corresponds to the status of a museum of modern art

Semyon Kantor, director of the Museum of Odessa Modern Art

“Ambassadors of Culture” is a community of intellectual entrepreneurs who have united based on the Museum of Modern Art in Odessa around the idea of ​​developing culture through the support of contemporary art. As of November 2021, 17 business people from Odessa are the Ambassadors of Culture.

The scholarship is the second community-funded project. The preparation of a publication dedicated to the artist Oleg Sokolov is underway. The book, edited and compiled by the collector and philanthropist Eugene Demenok, will be ready for publication in early 2022.

Until the end of winter 2022, we will launch residences for artists on the territory of the factory so that they can work with the location and redesign it.

Elena Podoprigora, executive director of the Cultural Innovation Project