“A Simple | Complex Path”: Visual Reflections on Lviv by Young People with Mental Health Conditions. On July 30, the Urban Mobility Center (24 Stepana Bandery St.) opens the exhibition project “A Simple | Complex Path”, dedicated to the city as a space of personal experience. The works were created by young people with mental health conditions and complex disabilities—students of the NGO “Dream Workshop”.

This series of works emerged from conversations about the city: how the authors navigate it, what they notice along the way, and which places help them feel safe.

In the studio of Olia Stavnykovych, the Lviv Municipal Art Center, and the Urban Mobility Center, the project participants created canvases depicting their own routes—from home to the studio, and from the studio to the art center’s spaces. We named this palimpsest of symbols, colors, and roadside objects the “boundaries of acceptance”—a limited yet reliable space within which the participants feel confident. Stepping outside these boundaries often means facing uncertainty and barriers.

This project is not only about a person’s ability to adapt to the city, but also about the city’s willingness to expand its own boundaries of acceptance—reducing not only physical barriers, but also barriers to human empathy.

The exhibition spans its own geography, offering an immersive journey into the spaces and routes traveled by the authors of this “(un)simple path.” We invite you for a walk to the Lviv Municipal Art Center (11 Stefanyka St.) and Olia Stavnykovych’s Studio (19A Dudaieva St.) to explore the continuation of the exhibition and see more of the city through the eyes of our artists.

Throughout the exhibition period, weekly accompanying events will take place around the project’s core themes:

Week 1: Guided tour led by the authors, visiting all three project locations.

Week 2: Masterclass hosted by studio lead Olia Stavnykovych.

Week 3: Guided exhibition tour.

Week 4: Public panel discussion on inclusion and accessibility in the urban environment.

Since 2015, the Lviv-based NGO “Dream Workshop” has been helping young people with mental health conditions and complex disabilities socialize and reach their full potential. As an alternative to the outdated institutional care system, the organization builds an inclusive, barrier-free society where every person has the right to a dignified life and acceptance.

Authors
Students of NGO “Dream Workshop”:

Petro Dziadyk, Nazar Krak, Andrii Oleksyn, Marko Tyshkun, Vira Kovalenko, Mariia Okal, Vasyl Oryshchak, Andrii Pulnyi, Mykola Bilyk, Maryna Nesterenko, Sviatoslav Diianov, Ihor Ruchkovskyi, Petro Shynkliar, Lidiia Humeniuk, Kateryna Kalamuniak, Danylo Hashchak, Yulian Sytnyk, Mykhailo Havryliuk, Andrii Metelskyi.

Project Team
Curator: Lyana Mytsko

Studio Lead & Tutor: Olia Stavnykovych

Designer: Sofiia Stadnyk

Project Manager: Oksana Mamedova

Partnership Manager: Khrystyna Shcherba

Partner Institutions
NGO “Dream Workshop”

Urban Mobility Center

Olia Stavnykovych Studio

Lviv Municipal Art Center