Osbelit Garcia-Morales
Osbelit Garcia Morales is a 16 year old art prodigy from a tiny Mexican town with a population of only 686.
There were no art galleries or museums where Osbelit grew up to inspire her artistic curiosity. Yet, when all the other kids wanted to play, all 8 year-old Osbelit wanted to do was fill her school notebook with drawings
Even then, Osbelit’s drawing were not the scribbles of the average 8 year-old. They were sophisticated portraits… near perfect in every detail.
She quickly moved on to dry pastels, creating works so advanced that word of an artistic genius began to spread throughout Southern Mexico. Soon Osbelit was painting as if she had been doing it for many more years than she had been alive.
When art supplies were not available, Osbelit used boards and flat stones to paint on, and she mixed her own paint using local dies and chalk. For the next 3 years, Osbelit walked several miles each day to her middle school where she was allowed to stay after to paint and draw.
Working entirely by herself, Osbelit was painting at the level of a master by the age of 11. Local art experts simply could not comprehend the astonishing fact that Osbelit had already become a master in not one, but three artistic disciplines including hyper-realism, surrealism, and abstract.
Last August, Osbelit accepted a commission by the Southern California-based Global Peace Initiative to create a large monument…. dedicated to the hopes for peace of the Ukrainian people.
But where to place the monument?
In 1967, John Lennon of the Beatles penned his epic masterpiece, “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
Many do not know that Strawberry Field is an actual place in Liverpool, England?
Strawberry Field was an orphanage after WWII, mostly for children who lost their parents during the war. It happened to be located just beyond the fence of John Lennon’s boyhood home, and he would often climb over the fence to play with the orphan children.
In 2019, Strawberry Field was opened to the public for the first time as a museum and exhibit site in honor of John Lennon and the spirit of peace that he championed for so long.
Since it is not safe to locate in Ukraine, Strawberry Field has graciously agreed to host Osbelit’s Ukrainian monument until such time as it can be safely stood in a rightful place in Ukraine.
In yet another incredible twist of fate, Ukraine won the right to host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Of course, Ukraine was forced to re-locate the event because of its ongoing war with Russia.
Ukraine selected Liverpool to be its proxy host for Eurovision, 2023.
And so, in May, 2023 - during the Eurovision, 2023 event - a 16 year-old artistic genius named Osbelit Garcia-Morales from a tiny town in Mexico will unveil a massive monument four times her own size as hers and the Global Peace Initiative’s gift to the People of Ukraine… in the name of peace.
Global Peace Initiative
Our fourth art exhibition and fundraiser, LArtistForUKRAINE, will be different this time since Global Peace Initiative is invited as a special guest. This California-based artist’s coalition that specializes in discovering young talents will present a maquette of a monument of 16-year-old art prodigy Osbelit Garcia-Morales with a message to the world- a call for peace. The LArtistForUKRAINE will be the first presentation of the young genius to the world. Meanwhile, the resident artists will shed light on their art related to the war in Ukraine this time. The real-size monument will be unveiled at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool with a television audience of over 160 million viewers. Strawberry Fields, Liverpool museum of the legacy of John Lennon, has offered to temporarily host the monument until it can safely go to Ukraine when the war ends.
The Ukrainian Art Center, under the patronage of the Ukrainian Culture Center, will host the LArtistsForUKRAINE Exhibit and Silent Auction fundraiser on Friday, February 24th, and Sunday, February 26th, in conjunction with the commemoration of one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. It is the Art Center’s fourth installation of LArtistsForUKRAINE since the beginning of the war. On Friday, we will host the Globe Peace Initiative Project with a special tribute to the people of Ukraine.