Vorokhta Mykhailo

Mykhailo Vorokhta was born on 6 November 1966 in Rakhiv, Transcarpathia. Since middle school, he attended an art studio. His teacher was Vasyl Zeikan.

After graduating in 1984, he entered the Ivan Franko State Pedagogical Institute named after V. Stefanyk, art and graphics faculty. His favourite discipline at the institute was painting. It was taught by such well-known masters as Mykhailo Fihol, Mykola Kanius, Bohdan Boichuk. The young artist liked plein airs in Vorokhta village on the basis of the institute.

When a third-year student, he worked as a head of art studio of the Ivano-Frankivsk Palace of Pioneers at the Uhornytska Boarding School for Orphans, and later as a decorating artist. After the fourth year, there was the first personal exhibition in Ivano-Frankivsk.

After graduation in 1991, he received a referral to Rakhiv district. During the first two years, he worked as a teacher of fine arts and drawing in Kostylivka Secondary School. Subsequently, he worked at the Pioneers' House, which after a certain period was renamed as the House of Children and Youth Creativity. While working at the Department of Education, he was simultaneously engaged in oil painting, mainly depicting Carpathian landscapes. He had a personal exhibition in the district adult library, exhibited his works at the International Hutsul festivals in Rakhiv, Verkhovyna and Yaremche.

One of the works of Mykhailo Vorokhta – “Grandfather's House” – was exhibited in 1993 in Kyiv at the final autumn exhibition held by the Union of Artists of Ukraine.  And in 1994, together with Vasyl Skrypka, he organised a collective exhibition under the title “Artists of Hutsulshchyna” in the hall of the Museum of Architecture and Life in Uzhhorod.

In addition to painting, he also performed wall paintings at the Rakhiv secondary school No.2, the children's department of the district hospital of Rakhiv and the medical institution of Halych, with his fellows he created paintings in the villages of Roztoka, Yasinia, Rosishka, Bohdan and in Rakhiv.

In 2003, he received the Diploma of the laureate of the 8th All-Ukrainian contest “Teacher of the Year – 2003” in the nomination “Fine Arts”. In 2005, he received the Diploma of the laureate of the 15th Hutsul Festival in the genre “Fine Arts”.

The works of Mykhailo Vorokhta are stored in private collections in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Russia, the USA and Canada.

Prepared according to the materials of Y. Bendak, O. Maslianyk “Artists of Transcarpathian Hutsulshchyna”.