Achievements

A notable achievement was the winning entry in 1958 by Leonid Denysenko of a design for a stamp on the theme of immigration in an Australian Government competition. In 1968 Leonid and his brother Jurij, won a design competition for an International Memorial-fountain to the immigrants who settled in Fairfield, a local government area on the outskirts of Sydney. This monument was erected in the park at the Crescent, Fairfield in 1968.

The ceramic artist Irena Madei also entered the commercial mainstream with her ceramic works. Her works have been used as gifts from the Ukrainian community to officials and Olympians on ceremonial occasions.

The most successful of all Australian-Ukrainian artists was Michael Kmit. In 1951 he held his first solo show in Australia at the Macquarie Galleries and received a commendation for his entry in the competition for the new Blake Prize for Religious Art. A year later he took second place in the Blake competition and in 1953 won the prize itself with The Evangelist John Mark.

There followed an impressive series of awards: the Perth Prize (1954), the Critics' Prize for Contemporary Art (1955), the Darcy Morris Memorial Prize (1956) and the Sulman Prize (1957). Kmit's abstract works were acknowledged as making a significant contribution to the Australian abstract movement by Australian art historians. The Australian artists Paul Haefliger wrote:

“Of all the foreign aspirants to art who have visited these shores since the war, Michael Kmit is the only one who has made an impression on the present generation of painters. ”

Kmit's paintings were bought by national galleries as part of their collections.

Revival

Artists from Ukraine — Volodymyr Harbuz (left) and Nina Sayenko (right) together with Australian politician David Borger (center) at an art exhibition organised by the Society at the Parramatta Heritage Centre gallery in April 2000.

Valentin Shkolny came to Australia in 1993 to work privately as a professional photographer, and in 2002 a pictorial book of his black and white photographs titled " Juxtapositions: an Intimate Portrait of Sydney" was published. His photographs are in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, and he was a finalist in the 2004 Australian Photographic Portrait Prize competition Lialia and Valentin Varetsa were able to receive commissions for illustrating children's books. Other newly arrived artists Svitlana Soldatova has had solo exhibition in private galleries while Natalia Balo, has won local awards, and has given drawing lessons at a regional arts network.

The Society's cultural ties with artists in Ukraine resulted in a number of visits to Australia, some while Ukraine was still under Soviet control. In 1989 artist Ivan Marchuk was invited to Australia, where he gained some success. In 1992 artist-sculptor Anatoly Valiyev visited Australia in 1992 and presenting the Ukrainian community in Australia with a bronze monument to Taras Shevchenko, which was erected in Canberra.

In 1999 the Society held an exhibition in Lidcombe(79 paintings), and another one in 2000 at the Parramatta Heritage Centre gallery titled “Ukrainian Poem”.

A notable event was the posthumous commemorative exhibition of Stefan Chwyla's paintings brought to Kiev by fellow artist Peter Kravchenko and displayed at the Museum of Cultural Heritage in 2007.

On 12 April 2009 the Society celebrated its 40th anniversary with a retrospective and current artists exhibition which was launched by the NSW Minister for Local Government Barbara Perry.

Chapters

The Victorian chapter of SUOMA, based in Melbourne, was headed by Vasyl Czybulsky, and after his death Lyudmyla Hrytsenko.

The first annual convention of SUOMA was held in Melbourne in April 1971 as part of the Second Convention of Ukrainians in Australia. This exhibition displayed works by 19 artists, of whom 8 were from Victoria. The most active and the longest-lasting of the various SUOMA groups was the New South Wales chapter. The first members of SUOMA (NSW) were: Michael Sadowskyj (President), Peter Kravchenko (Secretary), Stefan Misko (President of the national SUOMA), Michael Kmit, Leonid Denysenko, Eugenia Koziolkowskyj, Sofia Sywenkyj, Aleksander Chubaty.

During the most active period of the group – the 1960s to 1970s^{[citation needed]}, the role of President was performed by: Michael Sadowskyj, Aleksander Chubaty, Stefan Chwyla, Theodor Nalukowyj and now Paul Kravchenko. The role of Secretary since 1967 to today has been performed by Peter Kravchenko till his death.

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