Graduate Student Tanya Gradyuk Awarded George W. Vari Friendship Award for Civic Leadership

Every year, the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science awards the Honourable George W. Vari Friendship Award to four graduate students. Tanya Gradyuk, a student in the Master of Architecture program, was a recipient for the 2022/2023 term. 

The award recipients are students who have made significant contributions in either the areas of Civic Leadership or Diversity. For Tanya, her leadership contribution extended beyond the classroom, and instead, concentrated itself in small pockets of Ukrainian communities across Ontario. Tanya’s graduate research looks at the attachment to place, memory, and one’s landscape. The idea of human attachment is then studied by Tanya in relation to the future of design: how the design discipline could change and perhaps be sculpted by said architectural lineage. Looking at the familiar and the archival, her case studies visit two sites: her birthplace of Kyiv, Ukraine, and of Toronto, Canada–her home of two decades. 

It’s no surprise then, that Tanya’s civic leadership began with the onset of the war in Ukraine. 

The ongoing conflict, which saw countless deaths and the displacement of millions, extended beyond the Ukrainian border. For those abroad, the news of war tore through one’s family tree. For mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and grandchildren, the news of the unknown haunted them. For Tanya, whose family lived and still lives in Ukraine, helping wasn’t a suggestion, but an obligation for her community. 

On the heels of December’s exam season, when students began to return home for the holidays, we sat down with Tanya in an empty lecture room in the Architecture Building. To understand Tanya’s involvement in her community, we spoke not only about civic leadership, but what students could do to help, and what community meant for her–especially in the time of war.The award mentions the term of Civic Leadership and the idea of leading in one’s community. To you, what does civic leadership mean or extend to? What does being a leader mean to you? 

Tanya: I think everybody has different strengths and different ways that they’re able to help their community. I know that it’s kind of hard sometimes when you’re overwhelmed with what’s happening around the world, but I think that civic leadership can start in really small ways. As long as you’re providing support for someone who really needs it, then you’re helping. I think it’s a really powerful thing to do, especially since then you can expand that to the greater community. 

I think that being a leader is being open to people you’re working with. To be a leader means providing direction and providing your own experience, but also prioritizing your community and the people you’re helping, serving, or working with.

What did your community involvement look like? 

Tanya: It all began on February 24, 2022, when the war began in Ukraine. 

It really struck a chord with me because of my own family who’s still there. It was the first time I felt that I couldn’t do anything here, especially with family and friends who were there [in Ukraine]. Watching it all unfold on the news was really hard, especially being in Canada and not being able to support the people. Even when you spoke with them on the phone, it was like we were living a completely different life here. 

So I thought of ways that I could help the Ukrainian community that was already here, and also the ones who were coming as refugees. It started as a series of tasks. It began with my own family–with my grandmother, my cousins, and other family friends who were interested in coming to Canada. [...] I looked into what the Visa application was like, and was navigating those confusing and new processes that the Canadian government was putting forward. It was a lot of writing applications for people, helping them with the language, and [looking at] what would happen if they actually did go through with the process of coming here. 

Then in April, it began again with the process of bringing my own grandmother over. It was a month-long process of getting her from Kyiv to Poland, and then finally to Canada. 

Other ways that I was part of the broader Ukrainian community included organizing clothing drives, and donations from friends and people in our neighbourhood so that we could donate to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who were in contact with refugees coming into Canada. These were the people who came with nothing and were just figuring it out as they went. 

I also helped with a fundraising event with a distillery called Stillus Craft Spirits in Prince Edward County. It’s a family-run Ukrainian distillery, and they opened on August 24, 2022–on Ukrainian National Day. During the day, people were helping out with service, cooking, and preparation work. They were also selling traditional garments called vyshyvanka. 

This distillery also produced traditional horilka, which is an Ukrainian alcohol. All of these [efforts] were to provide funds to support different organizations, such as the refugee organization, or the war-front defence services.

Do you think your thesis has been impacted in any way from your involvement? 

I think because my involvement has been primarily outside of the school and in my community, I’m not looking to bring in political commentary for my thesis, but rather focus on the understanding that everyone is attached to some sort of place. 

It’s interesting because I began my thesis in January, before the war in February happened. It began with this connection to my grandmother’s home, the architectural space, and what it means to be attached to this place. I think the war brought me closer to my grandmother, and going through that experience and hearing her stories–how she had to leave behind a home that she was living in for more than 60 years–[changed my understanding of] how life unfolds, and what home means. It’s not where you’re situated, but the people around you, the culture, and the changes throughout your life.

I think something that’s often overlooked is the ability to provide the language and cultural support for refugees and newcomers. It’s so hard to navigate a new country with cultural differences, but having that sense of familiarity helps a lot. Do you still have other family members in Ukraine?

Tanya: I have cousins, second cousins, my aunts, and friends [who still live there]. We’re trying to support them the best we can from here. I think it’s tricky to uproot your life, and not everybody wants to come to Canada. That’s a decision they have to go through. 

People are also going through this outside of Ukraine and everywhere. So I guess the question is what can we do in Toronto? 

[...] There’s always room for adapting to things that are happening around the world and in Toronto as well. The lack of affordable housing is a really big issue that obviously touches not only Ukrainian refugees, but also all those who are trying to come to Canada. I’m interested in seeing how my skills and what I’m learning in architecture school can be applied to this issue in Toronto specifically.

What do you think is the importance of being involved, in either the school or the community? Do you think it affects students and their education in any way? 

Tanya: I think it definitely affects their education. [...] Everybody has their own community, whether they have some relation to it, or more relation to it, it’s going to inform their thoughts on design. 

I think that spills into their own projects in the studio. For example, if you know about the lack of affordable housing in Toronto, or what’s happening with the Greenbelt, all these issues can start informing your concepts in the studio. They’ll determine what type of projects you want to pursue outside of school, what type of architect you become, or what you want to do.  

[...] I think everybody’s going to be bringing in something different, important, and valid, so I think it’s important to hear different perspectives.

With your experience and involvement in the community, what do you think that students can do to help? 

Tanya: It’s tricky since a lot of this does feel like it’s out of our hand and out of our control. Or that we’re not really going to be changing the outcome, although I think, in some ways, some people can. 

I think everybody can listen and just be informed of what’s happening. There are people who you’re going to come across that may need support, whether that’s financial support, or, if you’re able to, keeping your home and your resources open.