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UC Davis Professor Promoting Art Instead Of Weapons Fighting Crisis In Ukraine

DAVIS (CBS13) - The pen could truly prove to be mightier than the sword as some are using art instead of weapons in hopes of stopping the crisis in Ukraine. A UC Davis professor is spreading the power of expression. She's showing her students how the most powerful weapon in war doesn't have to be violent.

Victoria Juharyan Is a UC Davis visiting professor for the Department of German and Russian. Juharyan was born in Armenia but she grew up in Russia with friends and family in Ukraine. She considers all of it her homeland. But with her two worlds torn after Russia's invasion, Juharyan wanted to protest peacefully with art.

She's having her students contribute to a massive art display depicting the crisis in Ukraine using sketches, paintings, poetry, and even plays and short stories.

"Especially when there's so much destruction going on around us, it's important to remember that we also have creative powers," Juharyan told CBS13.

She hopes to have her students' work seen not just across the country, but around the world.

"It's about preserving humanity and she is one of the fighters to try to preserve the arts and humanities," said one of her students, Dmitri Caradja.

If you'd like to see some of Juharyan's work promoting peace in Ukraine, she'll have an exhibit and lecture Sunday, March 13, at Two Rivers Cider Company in Sacramento.

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