This intensive was so heartfelt and warm that I honestly felt like I was melting. It’s literally the same Art Therapy Force (ATF) experience but with its own unique perks: you’re in a familiar place and surrounded by people who already feel like family. I was so happy to meet and connect with ATF participants from other sessions because they all turned out to be incredibly cool and like-minded (they’re now my family too).

The ATF environment is an absolute safe space, where you’re supported every single moment and made to feel truly valuable.

ATF has been a revelation for me—it showed me that my ideas can be realized, that my thoughts and experiences are important and worth being heard. Having this opportunity to bring my ideas to life feels amazing; it’s a great form of reflection that leaves you with pleasant exhaustion, tons of incredible memories, and unforgettable moments.

This intensive in Kharkiv became the perfect platform where we all came together to create something wonderful in such a short time. Our performance was a product of shared ideas and creativity; everyone contributed their own puzzle pieces, making a complete picture. Each participant was so creative that sometimes I wanted to stand on my head, amazed by the brilliance of their ideas.

I felt so much support from all the mentors—they always listened to and remembered our ideas. It was equally important for me that the mentors guided us, refining our ideas and offering their suggestions. That was super helpful because sometimes the creative flow of thoughts becomes too overwhelming, and it’s hard to channel it all in one direction.

Everyone was absolutely incredible, and I’m so grateful that I had the chance to feel genuinely happy during these three days. This experience has inspired me, and now I have a treasure trove of memories to look back on with a smile.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to meet other project graduates, reconnect with familiar faces, and get to know new ones.
Three days—that’s all it took for me to feel that incredible atmosphere again. During this time, we created a performance filled with our ideas, thoughts, and meaningful themes that need to be spoken about. On the final day, we presented this performance to an audience.
While performing, I wasn’t just playing my character; I was living through all their emotions and thoughts. Thank you, Nataliia, Niki, and Nastia, for your valuable advice that made our ideas even better.

In short, I’m overjoyed to have relived all those emotions I hadn’t felt since the end of the project. These were three unforgettable days that I’d love to experience again and again. ❤️

I can honestly say that these three days flew by so quickly, yet we managed to accomplish so much! Of course, three days felt like too little time for me, but not so little that we couldn’t create anything. On the contrary, the time constraint motivated us to act quickly and effectively!
As a result of our hard work, we created an incredible performance!
I truly enjoyed myself and felt at ease, taking a break from air raid alarms and explosions. I got to meet my friends, and we hugged and talked a lot. We also worked together on the performance, which made everything even better! I loved everything about this experience!

It was so powerful! Everything was incredibly fun and exciting. I especially loved meeting new people and discovering shared interests with them! It was also so heartwarming to see people I already knew, along with the coordinators.
Honestly, it felt like it went straight to my heart!

What we accomplished in just 48 hours is truly impressive. From nothing, we created a fully-fledged performance with live music, poetry, monologues, carols, and props—all entirely from scratch. Our ideas grew together, intertwined, and merged into a cohesive statement from Kharkiv’s youth about how Soviet authorities tried for years to destroy and silence our culture, yet we’ve always united to resist and still do today.

It genuinely feels like nothing is impossible in the Art Therapy Force universe. Creating a performance from scratch in two days? Done. Writing a monologue about Kharkiv overnight? Easy. Designing props? No problem. Filling the entire performance with original content? Absolutely! 😃
I’ll never stop saying how much I adore these people and how infinitely grateful I am to the organizers for continuing to support us!!

It was such an interesting experience, especially considering the project only lasted three days. I gained so much new knowledge and met incredibly fascinating people.

These three days were full of emotions. I cried, laughed, danced, thought, and created. I learned something new about myself. I was surrounded by amazing people I already miss. Thank you so much for the support when I needed it most 💞 I loved absolutely everything we did — and dancing to the same playlist 🛐🛐🛐🛐 was just incredible!

This intensive helped me a lot during hard times. It pulled me up, helped me stand on my feet, and pushed me forward — both emotionally and physically, I began to feel much better. All the movement practices helped me explore and understand myself and my surroundings. And this incredibly powerful, energetic community was always there — helping and motivating me. I’m so grateful to everyone. This is definitely one of the best experiences of my life. Love you, ATF ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

I still dream about every moment, about hugging those once-strangers who became close; dreams where I move, forgetting about my physical limits, diving deep into my inner state. These days I felt a crazy connection, enjoyed the atmosphere we created together, and breathed in fresh air surrounded by incredible plants. There were people beside me — and I was there with them — real and sincere. That’s truly precious.

I gained a new breath of inspiration, memories, impressions, and experiences. I felt at home, surrounded by familiar people. I love remembering every walk, every game, every sound we created. I still hum the song we wrote with Marusia. These were the most fulfilling three days of my life. Even though we did so much, after the fire I still wanted more and more! I love the team doing this important work and thank them endlessly for giving us a chance to dive into creativity fully and stay there, creating real masterpieces ❤️

This intensive gave me even more than the big camp. From the first day, we connected with everyone, and by the end, we were one team. I was so happy to meet all the mentors again and get to know new participants. In three days we managed to do so much — it was truly intense. The location was perfect; it was fascinating to learn about Bakota and admire its nature.

How could I not love you, my art therapy force! It’s impossible not to drown in the love and support among these people, impossible not to feel natural here — unless you block that warmth yourself. You can feel that the team deeply cares about our comfort; time here flows so gently, slowly, and meaningfully. The people around are full of sincerity and passion; everyone contributes a part of their soul, and that creates something truly special. I always want to come back again and again, because this is one of the places where I can restore myself, reflect, and be heard. Love youuu ❤️

I love every ATF project, and this intensive was no exception. But for me, it was a completely new experience compared to the usual camp.
Here, I could open up more as an individual — I had more time and activities to spend with myself, and that helped me see myself as a creative person and learn new things about who I am.
Even though it was focused on personal work, I’m endlessly grateful for the people who were there too. Each participant was such a unique individual, with their own views and interests — it was so interesting to communicate, share thoughts, and learn from one another.
This intensive reminded me that creativity is an inseparable part of my life and how easy it can be to express it through everyday things. I’m very thankful for the chance to join and for all the people who were there — they are the best!

I’m always amazed by how high-quality, well-organized, and cool ATF projects are. I go there fully confident that I’ll love it, have a great time, and rest. I adore this community — being around Kids Art Retreat Project alumni always feels warm and comfortable because we share something in common.
This was not just an intensive — it felt like a mini-retreat where we managed to do a bit of everything. I rediscovered drawing from a whole new perspective, and even improved my English with Seila! The practices with Marusia were truly helpful — we could hear changes in our voices, we started to speak more confidently. I’m so glad I met Marusia; she’s such a bright, warm person, and I love her art — I often find myself reminiscing about the intensive while listening to her songs 🙃
I even remembered some team-building games and now play them with my parents! Huge thanks to Ms. Nataliia)) I’m really grateful for this intensive — I always return from ATF projects filled, inspired, and happy 🥹 Thank you!!!

I really enjoyed this intensive because I saw the beautiful landscapes of Bakota, listened live to Marusia Chuprynenko’s songs, met wonderful people, and got to know Ukrainian artists’ work. And I even played cards with Seila!