VanArts gives Ukrainian refugees a chance at careers with help of scholarship fund

A year ago Anna Sitalova was in Poland scrolling her Facebook feed when she noticed something interesting.

The 24-year-old saw a post that VanArts, a longtime Vancouver media arts school, was offering 25 full tuition scholarships (worth about $40,000) for Ukrainians.

Sitalova had fled Kyiv a month after the Russians invaded in late February 2022. Before leaving she had been studying biology and was taking some graphics courses with an eye on maybe pursuing a career in 3D scientific animation. When she saw the post, she quickly pulled together her portfolio and applied.

“It was amazing. I didn’t believe that I would be accepted. I didn’t believe I would be successful with my visa. I was really surprised it was possible,” said Sitalova, who came to Vancouver last April.

Now Sitalova is a graduate of VanArts and is working for a local VFX company as a junior 3D tracking artist on TV/film projects.