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REMEMBERING It was a hot, steamy summer evening. After a meal of crisp salads followed by delicious wine cooler, I turned my trusty tape recorder on and said to my hostess, “Let’s talk about the Museum.” I felt privileged and honored to be able to spend some time with a lady I admired tremendously and to be able to speak with her about one of my favorite topics, and a timely one at that, the Ukrainian Museum in New York City. My hostess, Alexandra Riznyk had seen the birth of this wonderful institution. As president of the Museum Committee, she was part of the hardworking team, members of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, which made a dream become a reality. The nucleus of this grand dream was a collection of Ukrainian folk costumes which were purchased by UNWLA in Lviv, and exhibited at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair with great success. For several decades following the Fair, according to Mrs. Riznyk, the collection was borrowed and in the process some valuable items were lost, damaged or destroyed. During World War II many items from the collection were sold. After the War it was decided that in order to preserve the precious examples of our culture, the remainder of the collection must be safeguarded. It should also be noted that through the years many other examples of Ukrainian folk art, such as ceramics, woodcarvings, metalworks, and folk costumes were collected and eventually the organization had a sizeable and valuable grouping of artifacts. The first semi-permanent home for the mini-collection was the fourth floor of the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City and on April 9, 1967 the Ukrainian Folk Art Exhibit was officially opened. “This collection had never been catalogued,” said Mrs. Riznyk, “There were lists of the items, but no identifying descriptions.” Shortly the exhibit was professionally catalogued by Oksana Hrabowych, an ethnographer, who eventually became the first curator of the Ukrainian Museum. The UNWLA folk art exhibit at the Institute was short-lived and soon the collection found itself back in boxes stored at the UNWLA headquarters in Philadelphia. “The actual idea of a permanent museum was first proposed by Iwanna Rozankowsky when she was vice president of UNWLA,” said Mrs. Riznyk. This was in the early 1970’s. The organization readily accepted this project and a campaign was launched — publicity and fundraising — to encourage the support of the Ukrainian community in this undertaking. In 1975, Mrs. Rozankowsky was elected president of UNWLA and the headquarters of the organization moved to New York City. To accomodate the new projected museum, UNWLA purchased a building in partnership with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. The remodelling of the new premises had to be done to museum specifications. Galleries had to be fashioned, temperature controlled storage facilities had to be built, and other spe cial requirements had to be met. Mrs. Riznyk, the Museum Committee and everyone involved in the new project worked very hard and fast, learning along the way the complicated and fascinating details which, when taken together, create an exciting exhibit in a museum setting. In October 1976 The Ukrainian Museum had its grand opening and gala inaugural celebra tion in a fanfare of press-covered events. In December of that year, the Museum was incor- ported and received its Charter from the State of New York. During the Museum’s formative years, Mrs. Riznyk went on to say, there were many indi viduals who gave freely of their time, knowledge, enthusiasm and support. It would be unfair to name some, and not mention others, she explained. However, Mrs. Riznyk did speak about Mrs. Hrabowych. “The credit for the professional preparation of exhibits and setting up of the Museum is thanks to Oksana Hrabowych, because she knew what had to be done and she did it well,” affirmed Mrs. Riznyk. From determining the specifications of exhibit cases to the utilization of acid-free paper, from proper lighting in the showcases, to special type of cabinets made expressly for storage, my hostess credited the new curator with excellent judgement and knowledge of the rudiments of museum know-how. ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЖОВТЕНЬ 1986 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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