The Izmail City Organization of the National Union of Ukrainian Artists includes twenty-eight artists from the cities of Southern Bessarabia: Izmail, Artsiz, Kiliya, and others. These artists work in a variety of media – painting, watercolors, graphics, decorative and applied arts, restoration and conservation of paintings, sacred objects, and icons. Regional identity and multiculturalism are the leading features of their work, sourced from the union artists’ diverse ethnic roots, as they are descendants of Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Moldavian, Greek, Albanian and German Bessarabian colonists.

IMO NAU is represented by two Honored Artists of Ukraine of Bulgarian origin - Olexander Kara and Ivan Shishman. The sacralization of the way of life and rural work of the Bulgarian settlers, whose descendant is Olexander Kara, became the most essential feature of his work. The subjects of the artist's encaustic compositions are from Bulgarian folklore, history, and knowledge and respect for cultural traditions. The language of O. Kara's painting is very simple, and yet gives rise to a contemplative admiration. The author works with the symbolism and locality of color, and the musicality and plasticity of the line, which leads to unique, harmonious images. It is no coincidence that the female subjects of O. Kara’s work have been dubbed "Bessarabian Madonnas". I. Shishman’s artistic achievements are inextricably linked with the spiritual space of the Orthodox Church. The artist's output consists of exquisite creative compositions, sacred painting, painting of monumental Christian buildings and iconography.

The Chakir dynasty of artists is also well-represented in Union work. The founding member of the dynasty, Petro Chakir (1931-2012,) was a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR (1980) as well as the Honored Artist of Ukraine (2009). His works captivate in their creative range  of genres and techniques.  The enamels of P. Chakir reflect the richness of the spiritual world of the Gagauz people. Alla Chakir’s paintings have a deep religious, spiritual and philosophical meaning. Their subjects make one wonder about the soul and the body, the earthly and the heavenly, the holy and the sinful.

Ivan Kotsoflyak developed his own signature style and created a wide gallery of wonderful images, full of romance and grandeur, mystery and spiritual simplicity. The artist employs various techniques (oil painting, watercolor). His love of the beauty of the Bessarabian region is manifested by numerous landscape paintings, in which the illusion of form and depth is achieved by the virtuoso use of multidirectional textured strokes.

The work of Tetyana Mitaki, a member of the IMO of the National Union of Ukrainian Artists, is distinguished by the desire to understand her Greek roots. Many of her works represent the artistic concept of the ancient past of Ukrainian Bessarabia, which was a strategically important center of Greco-Roman culture. The author's landscape compositions are distinguished by refined taste, impressionistic color and sometimes evoke the tender sounds of musical instruments.

The artist Volodimir Dudnik is a well-known representative of the art world of Ukrainian Bessarabia. A master of subtle landscapes depicting natural phenomena, he instantly evokes a corresponding emotional state in the viewer. Playing the symbolism of geometric figures (circle, square, cube, pyramid) as unity and the struggle of opposites, he inspires the recipient to rethink the original binary oppositions of life / death, soul / matter, male / female, natural / artificial, evoking numerous images. ideas and topics for reflection. Volodymyr Dudnik is a generator of creative ideas to revive the region’s cultural life. Since 2011, he has organized the annual ART-BAT Festival of Danube Artists to promote regional art, with the participation of artists from Moldova and Romania. In addition, the artist moderates the site "ART-BAT Gallery of Izmail Artists".

The artist Valeria Leventsova, an art teacher in Kiliya, is not only a brilliant specialist in  oil painting, graphics, and collage, but also the creator of works on hardboard, enamel, silk, and batik. Her creative compositions present a panorama of artistic images with ethnic-cubic motifs ("Pysanka Rhythms"). Students of the art department of the Kiliya State Music School, where V. Leventsova works, are winners of international competitions in Bulgaria, Greece, Poland and Japan.

Images by  the painter Nikolai Fedyaev are full of nuances of mood. As a subtle master of emotion, he conveys the brilliance of eyes ("Ukrainian Girl"), children's delight, and lovers’ attraction. The gallery of his artistic images is represented by a fascinating panorama of landscape, circus, and exotic motifs.

Impressionist colors permeate the works of Pavlo Makedonskiy. His artistic signifiers are openness of composition, unusual angles and points of view, textured strokes, emphasis on the transmission of light, illusion of movement, attention to small details, and more. The bright colors of his paintings distract from everyday life, invite you to immerse yourself in the optimistic color world of landscapes and creative compositions.

Landscape holds a special place in the paintings of local artists. Coziness, love of rural life, and simple everyday things are conveyed in the works of Dmytro Dyoshin ( "Old Artsyz"), Sergei Kostov, and many other artists.

Works by Artsyz artists Volodimir Afanasyev, Tamara Tkach, and Dmytro Dyoshin, capture the local flavor and present both original subjects and techniques. V. Afanasyev's paintings present a wide panorama of life of rural Bessarabian inhabitants: pruning grapes and trees, plowing, weaving, fishing and fishermen's preparatory work, harvesting grapes and crops of all kinds, arranging the yard, bathing and cleaning, and village gardening. The subjects of T. Tkach's creative compositions demonstrate the importance of traditional values in the mentality of the inhabitants of the region, the dominance of communal foundations and collective ethics in the culture of the region. The inconspicuous landscapes of the Budzhak steppe on the canvases of Dmytro Dyoshin turn into attractive steppe spaces; courtyards are shown as important cultural spaces; figures of ordinary inhabitants are revealed as bearers of traditional values; while nostalgic paintings of roads and paths reveal enduring archetypes and philosophical archetypal motifs.

The creative activity of Ukrainian Bessarabian artists is known not only in Ukraine but also abroad. These artists are active participants in all-Ukrainian and international exhibitions, and biennials. The House of Artists in Izmail holds creative workshops and a permanent exhibition of works of art, where you can buy paintings by Bessarabian masters. The member artists are active educators, organizing thematic art exhibitions and openings at the ART-BAT Gallery of Artists of Izmail, Izmail Art Gallery, and Izmail Museum of History and Local Lore of the Danube ("Seasons", "Beauty created by women", "Budzhakska Pali,” and others).

P.S.: After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many artists from the southern Odessa region shared during meetings at the Izmail Art Gallery that they felt shock, stress, and inability to tear themselves away from the horrific flow of news from both the occupied territories and those under constant fire during the first weeks of the war. For a while the creative process stopped completely… And no wonder! It is impossible to distance oneself from the horrors of war and imagine a beautiful world of love, goodness and beauty. After some time, aesthetic reflection switched to what worried us and what continues to concern us most: the fate of Ukraine and belief in the unconditional victory of our country.