Tobolsk has inaugurated yet another street art object

9 october 2023

A mural adorning a residential building at No. 10 4th Severnaya Street emerged as part of the street art project The Art Formula initiated by RASKRASIMVSYO, a team of professional artists, and implemented with the support of SIBUR's social investment program The Formula for Good Deeds. The drawing is the brainchild of a local resident who had won an open sketch competition. This is the 11th street painting that has been created in Tobolsk courtesy of the project.
Every year, the Art Formula project affords the residents of Tobolsk an opportunity to manifest their creativity and come up with a drawing that would be adorning the streets of the city. This time the sketch contest's chosen theme was “The Flora and the Fauna of our Homeland”. Local residents submitted 120 entries across two age groups. By popular vote, the piece of artwork by Varvara Groshkova, a professional artist and graphic designer, was declared the contest’s winner.
Varvara had been participating in the Art Formula project for several years, but this was the first time she had won. Her artwork depicts a beautiful young woman holding a plant shoot in her hands.

Varvara Groshkova, an artist:
“The shoot she's holding in her hands is a symbol of a beginning and the birth of something new, just like the sunrise seen in the birch grove in her background. Birch trees are often associated with light and tenderness. As a child, I remember reading about young girls turning into young birch trees, which prompted me to add a bit of fairy-tale magic to my sketch”.

The artist chose to name her drawing “Flora”. The neighborhood's residents have nicknamed the mural “Varvara”, either after the artist's own proper name or in honor of a popular character from Russian folk tales.

Alexey Vakulik, Leading Specialist of ZapSibNeftekhim's Department for Government Relations and Socio-Economic Projects:
“Each mural has already begun to become associated with new folk legends and popular names. There's something for everyone to be found in each new mural, including their own connotations and stories”.

It took two artists - Roman Levashov from Nizhny Novgorod and Dmitry Laskin from St. Petersburg - 10 days to complete the new mural. Both of them have been painting buildings’ facades as part of the Art Formula for a number of years already. They have under their belts several completed projects in Kstovo and Svobodny, and they also painted buildings at SIBUR's facility in Svobodny, the Amur GCC. All in all, 650 cans of paint of 32 shades were used to paint the new mural.
The author of the mural's design and other prizewinners of the sketch contest were presented with commemorative gifts at the unveiling of the new piece of street art. The second prize in the adult age group went to Tatyana Ploskonos and the third one to Daria Mingaleva.
Among the children, the first prize was awarded to Daniil Suslo, while the second and the third one went to Veronika Shestakova and Victoria Bizina, respectively.

Anastasia Ionina, Director of Tobolsk’s City Administration’s Department of Culture and Tourism, thanked the project's team and SIBUR for their caring attitude towards the city and for helping build a festive atmosphere.

Anastasia Ionina, Director of Tobolsk's City Administration’s Department of Culture and Tourism
“Once again, SIBUR, our key partner in implementing social projects, is proving to us how much effort it has been putting into developing the city's infrastructure and into creating a comfortable environment here in Tobolsk. Without a doubt, this mural will be attracting not only local residents, but also visiting travelers”.