|
July 2010
In this issue
· Recap: Annual Meeting
· Need a break?
· In the gift shop …
· Share your wedding photos with us
· Now showing …
· Coming up …
· Around the Museum – film, concert, visitors …
Scroll down to see more …
Recap: Annual Meeting
Members who attended the Museum's annual meeting on June 12 learned first-hand about its financial health, activities, accomplishments, and plans for the future. They also cast their votes for new Trustees and Executive Board members and, during several question-and-answer sessions, were able to request information directly from representatives of the Board and Administration.
Board president Professor Jaroslaw Leshko kicked off the meeting by saluting the Ukrainian National Women's League of America for its foresight in founding the Museum almost 35 years ago and for continuing to support the Museum in numerous ways. He also acknowledged the dedication of the Museum's director, Maria Shust, and administrative director, Daria Bajko, who have been with the Museum since its founding, as well as its long-time and newer employees, and took the opportunity to announce the hiring of a coordinator of educational programs, Larissa Raphael. Professor Leshko then described recent initiatives that succeeded in lowering the Museum's energy costs and said that future initiatives should consider "green" alternatives.
After noting the success of the tremendously popular Spring Gala 2009 fundraising event, which brought in $50,000 ($25,000 of that from the art auction), he said the Board's focus in 2010 would be on increasing donations and memberships. Among the highlights of 2009 was then Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's visit on September 22, during which he awarded medals of honor to a number of members of the Ukrainian community, as well as several exhibitions drawn from the Museum's own fine art collection. Most of the Museum's energies in 2009, however, were dedicated to preparing for the exhibition Ukraine-Sweden: At the Crossroads of History, which opened in April 2010 – the most important historical exhibition since the Museum's founding. Professor Leshko acknowledged the immense contribution to the exhibition's success made by its sponsors and by many individuals at institutions in Ukraine, Sweden, and here in the U.S., and asked the Museum members present to encourage their families and friends to visit the exhibition, and to spread the word further.
Director Maria Shust then presented a detailed account of the Museum's initiatives throughout 2009: several fine art and folk art exhibitions; the intense year-long preparations for the Ukraine-Sweden exhibition; and the many public events organized or overseen by Hanya Krill, including concerts, film screenings and film festivals, and book signings. For the third consecutive year, the Museum was also visited by a large group of spouses of United Nations diplomats, an event organized and hosted by the U.N. Delegations Women's Club and Dr. Natalia Sergeyeva, the wife of Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.N.
Among the most popular activities in 2009, as every year, were the Museum's folk art courses and workshops, organized by folk art curator Lubow Wolynetz and supported in part by a grant from the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA). NYSCA has also awarded grants for the hiring of the coordinator of educational programs and for the upcoming Invitation to a Wedding folk art exhibition. The latter has also received grants from the Coby Foundation totaling $105,000.
The Museum promoted its activities in numerous ways, including the Ukrainian and American press. Our own e-news spreads the word to more than 7,000 readers every month.
Ms. Shust concluded with a heartfelt thank-you to the many volunteers who devote so much of their time and energy to ensuring the Museum's success.
Zoriana Haftkowycz, the Board's treasurer, rounded out the presentations by reviewing the financial reports that each attendee had received. She stressed the importance of increasing memberships, attendance, and the value of endowment and memorial funds. Several question-and-answer periods interspersed the various presentations.
The meeting, expertly run for the second consecutive year by Andriy Bihun and recorded by secretary Daria Drozdovska, concluded with the re-election of Professor Leshko as president of the Board and a vote for new Board members. Four new Trustees were elected: Iryna Kurowyckyj, Askold Chemych, Natalia Labenskyj Haidukewych, and Christina Samilenko. The complete slate of Board members now stands as follows:
Executive Board
Professor Jaroslaw Leshko, President
Marianna Zajac, Vice-President
Mark Bach, Vice-President
Iryna Kurowyckyj, Vice-President
Zoriana Haftkowycz, Treasurer
Roma Shuhan, Secretary
Zirka Voronka, Secretary
Orest Glut, Member-at-Large
Mykola Haliv, Member-at-Large
Motria Kuzycz, Esq., Member-at-Large
Trustees
Askold Chemych
Natalia Labenskyj Haidukewych
Sophia Hewryk
Lilya Kalat
Alla Kuchinsky
Andrew Lencyk, Esq.
Yaroslawa Luchechko
Chrystyna Melnyk
Rostislav Milanytch
Christina Samilenko
Natalia Sonevytsky
Olga Stawnychy
Maria Tomorug
Oksana Trytjak
Olha Yarema-Wynar
The membership also voted to re-elect the members of the Audit Committee:
Audit Committee
Nadia Cwiach, Chair
Ihor Hayda
Roman Sorobay
Marianna Woloszyn
Lydia Zaininger
Need a break?
This summer, take a break from the sun, the heat, the humidity, and the crowds: reconnect to your roots in the cool, calm atmosphere of The Ukrainian Museum. Drop by to see one or all of our fascinating, diverse exhibitions, including the spectacular show Ukraine-Sweden: At the Crossroads of History (XVII-XVIII Centuries). With more than 100 Cossack artifacts that have never before been seen in North America, Ukraine-Sweden is already being hailed as the most important exhibition since Ukraine's independence.
Groups are always welcome at the Museum. Call in advance to reserve a group tour – an enriching and rewarding experience at a nominal cost: $9 for adults, $7 for college students (with valid full-time ID) and seniors, $5 for Museum members, $3 for children and students through high school. Group tours are ideal for campers, senior centers, and vacation communities. To reserve your tour, call 212.228.0110 or e-mail edu@ukrainianmuseum.org.
In the gift shop
Just arrived from Ukraine …
Drop by the gift shop to see what our gift shop manager, Chrystyna Pevny, has just brought back from Ukraine:
- denim embroidered tote bags ($25)
- embroidered t-shirts (white or black, $25)
- map of Ukraine puzzle ($18)
- children's woven bag ($15)
- map of Ukraine in Europe (in Ukrainian only, $18)
- one-of-a-kind embroidered shirts for men and women
- a new selection of books, carved-wood items, and Hutsul ceramics
… and much more! The shop is open during Museum visiting hours, Wednesday through Sunday from 11:30 to 5:00.
Share your wedding photos with us
Village of Kryvorivnia, Ivano-Frankivs'k Oblast, Ukraine.
Photo by Lida Suchý, 1993
|
This fall, the Museum will unveil a major exhibition on the Ukrainian wedding. Invitation to a Wedding: Ukrainian Wedding Textiles and Traditions will focus on the wide variety of traditional textiles that are used from the time of betrothal, during the marriage ceremony, and right through the wedding festivities themselves – items such as embroidered ritual cloths (rushnyky) and shirts, traditional wedding headdresses, and even decorations for the korovai (wedding bread).
Do you have wedding photographs, showing these types of traditional elements, that you could share with us for this exhibition? The photographs may be old, from traditional weddings in Ukraine or the early days of the Diaspora, or more recent, with traditional elements applied in a modern way – an embroidered wedding gown or ring pillow, for example. While we cannot guarantee that every photo we receive will be used in the exhibition, we will display as many as possible.
Along with your photos, please include the following information:
- Your name, address, daytime phone number, and e-mail.
- The date and location of the wedding, and any other available information.
- Are you willing to donate your photos to the Museum's archival photo collection, or would you prefer to have them returned after use?
Please send your photos, in any format (print, slides, digital files), to:
Chrystyna Pevny, Archivist
The Ukrainian Museum
222 East 6th Street
New York, NY 10003
chrystyna.pevny@ukrainianmuseum.org
212.228.0110
Major funding for the exhibition Invitation to a Wedding was provided by The Coby Foundation.
Additional funding was provided by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
Curated by Lubow Wolynetz, who oversees the Museum's folk art collection, Invitation to a Wedding will open this fall.
|
You, too, can sponsor this exhibition!
Significant funding is still required to cover the full expense of mounting Invitation to a Wedding. You, too, can become a sponsor of this very special exhibition … simply contact the Museum's administrative director, Daria Bajko, at 212.228.0110 or info@ukrainianmuseum.org for information. Sponsorships are fully tax-deductible and will be acknowledged in numerous ways: your name will appear on the invitations to the exhibition opening, on a list of sponsors at the entrance to the exhibition, and in the exhibition catalogue. Won't you consider becoming a sponsor of Invitation to a Wedding?
|
|
Now showing …
more
Coming up …
|
Invitation to a Wedding: Ukrainian Wedding Textiles and Traditions
Opens Fall 2010
|
Around the Museum
Film: Taras Bulba
|
In conjunction with the exhibition Ukraine-Sweden, the Museum screened the 1962 Hollywood epic Taras Bulba on June 11 and 13. Based on the novel by Mykola Hohol, the film was directed by J. Lee Thompson and features Yul Brynner as Taras Bulba, Tony Curtis as his son Andrei, and Sam Wanamaker as Filipenko. Prior to the first screening, Professor Alexander Motyl of Rutgers University discussed the historical context of the film (mostly accurate), the character portrayals (some accurate, others based largely on Hollywood-style hyperbole and invention for the sake of attracting audience interest), and comparisons between the original novel by Gogol published in 1835 and the Moscow-influenced version of the story published in 1842. The later edition was shaped to fit "ideological precepts dictated by Russia" – references to autocracy (allegiance to the tsar), nationality (Russian as opposed to Cossack or Ukrainian), and orthodoxy (the Russian church). Professor Motyl's comments were recorded for presentation before the second screening.
Concert: "Seven Deadly Sins"
The Ukrainian Women's Voices collective, led by singer-educator Nadia Tarnawsky, returned to the Museum for another popular performance on June 12. The concert, "Seven Deadly Sins," featured folk songs chronicling the dark side of life – murder, mischief, mayhem, and more. A number of guest artists, both singers and musicians, took part in the event, a co-presentation with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance (CTMD) and the New York Bandura Ensemble. View the online slide show of the concert, with photos by Eileen Condon of CTMD.
Visitors galore!
1. Mother Superior Serafyma, Minister Kulyniak, Marina Gromova
|
2. Anna Karin Hermodsson next to a letter from Crimean Khan Mehmet Geray to Charles X Gustavus of Sweden proposing a joint military campaign against Moscow
|
A number of distinguished visitors graced the Museum last month, including Ukraine's minister of culture and tourism Mykhailo Kulyniak, Mother Superior Serafyma (head of the department of culture and religion of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate), and Marina Gromova (general director, The National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical Cultural Preserve) (June 18 – #1); Ukraine's former Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasyuk (June 20); and Anna Karin Hermodsson, director of the Swedish National Archives (June 10 – #2).
The Museum also hosted several groups touring the Ukraine-Sweden exhibition and other shows. Among them were approximately 45 parishioners of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Riverhead, Long Island (June 6 – #3, left); special-needs children from the Roy Campanella OTC P921K school (June 18); interns and staff from the Museum at Eldridge Street (June 24); and 42 members and friends of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America Branch 67 in Philadelphia (June 27 – #3, right), who also took a keen interest in the Crimean Tatar exhibition.
3. St. John the Baptist UCC tour (left); UNWLA Philadelphia tour (right)
|
Header image: Arcadia Olenska-Petryshyn, Night Cacti I (detail), 1982, oil on canvas.
Unless otherwise indicated, all photos © The Ukrainian Museum
|
The Ukrainian Museum's film series and traditional arts programs are funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
|
|
The Ukrainian Museum's traditional arts programs are funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts
|
|
