Luchechko elected president of The Ukrainian Museum's board (08/25/96)

Luchechko elected president of The Ukrainian Museum's board

by Marta Baczynsky

NEW YORK - The Ukrainian Museum's 1996 annual meeting held on June 9 was attended by many members and friends of the institution - the welfare of which lies close to their hearts.

On this warm Sunday afternoon in New York City, museum members exercised the most important privilege of their membership - their right to vote - and elected Ivan Luchechko as president of the board of trustees.

In his acceptance speech Mr. Luchechko passionately encouraged his listeners to become ambassadors, protectors and promoters of the museum, calling it a "sanctuary" where our nation's history, culture and traditions come alive.

"All enlightened nations in the world have museums, which they cherish, care for, are proud of, and support. It is the collective responsibility of our community, as a member of this family of nations, to build a representative Ukrainian museum in the United States, a task for which we are answerable before our ancestors and our descendants," said the newly elected board president.

Mr. Luchechko is a gregarious individual whose relaxed manner of speaking before an audience no doubt stems from his experience as a teacher of European history at Jersey City State College. He holds two master's degrees: one in library science from Columbia University, the other in political science from Hunter College. Mr. Luchechko has been active in the life of the Ukrainian community, especially in the youth organization Plast (he is a member of the Chervona Kalyna fraternity).

He is an avid world traveler (China and Australia, among other countries) and frequently visits Ukraine. On his trips to countries in Eastern Europe and the Far East (Siberia) he seeks out and makes contact with distant Ukrainian communities.

The Luchechko family have been members and supporters of the museum since 1984. Mr. Luchechko was a member of the board of trustees in 1986-1988 and served as secretary on the executive board in 1986 and 1987.

The annual meeting elected a slate of new board members for 1996-1997 (listed separately), as proposed by the Nominating Committee chaired by Barbara Bachynsky. Eugene Ivashkiv presided over the annual meeting, and conducted the proceedings efficiently and briskly, peppered with a good measure of humor. Katria Czerwoniak recorded the minutes.

The purpose of the annual meeting, as described in the museum's by-laws, is to give museum members the opportunity to elect members of the board of trustees. The meeting also allows the president of the board and the museum's director to present an overview of the work of the institution, and provides a forum for the audience to exchange ideas on how to maintain, change or improve its welfare.

The museum's annual report was distributed to those attending the meeting. This publication is a compilation of comprehensive, detailed accounts of every phase of the museum's activities of the preceding year, including a message from the board president, the museum's director and administrative director. The report lists museum members, gives a complete enumeration of donations, and contains the museum's financial statement.

The subject that generated the greatest interest during the meeting, and was discussed at length in reports and from the floor, was the new museum building project. The former board president, Dr. Joseph Danko, recounted how the work on the project progressed since June 1995. Among other considerations, the project included guiding the development of the plans for the new building to meet all the requirements and needs of the museum. Work on the project was basically carried out by the Rebuilding Committee, chaired by Bohdan Kotys, with major decisions subject to approval by the board.

Dr. Danko's report ended as of May 13, when he resigned his post as president of the board, citing as one of the reasons differences between his vision of a new museum building and that of the majority of board members.

The director of the museum, Maria Shust, reported on the state of the museum for the first half of 1996, since the complete information for 1995 was included in the annual report. She indicated that work in the museum has been progressing at a brisk pace, with four exhibitions open to the public within the span of the six months.

The exhibition "To Preserve a Heritage: The Story of the Ukrainian Immigration in the United States," which was mounted at the museum in 1984, traveled to Ukraine under the auspices of the United States Information Service and opened in May 1996 in the Museum of Ukrainian Literature in Kyiv.

Ms. Shust spoke in some detail about other areas of activity at the museum (growth of collections, conservation, public relations, special events), particularly pointing out the very encouraging development in terms of membership and plans of the Museum Circle, a museum-affiliated organization of young professionals.

Ms. Shust spoke about an important Institute of Museum Services grant that the museum received in 1995 to fund the assessment of its collections and storage facility by a conservator and architect. She explained that the reports of these professionals not only gave guidelines for better management of the collections at this time, but provided valuable suggestions and recommendations for the development of plans for the best possible collections storage and management practices in the new museum building.

The director also thanked the many museum members and friends throughout the country for their continuous care and support of the institution in the last two decades (the museum will celebrate its 20th anniversary in October), and commended the museum staff for their hard work.

Architect George Sawicki of the New York-based firm Greenfield, Sawicki, Tarella, Architects, PC., who was unanimously selected by the board of trustees in 1995 to develop the new museum building project, presented plans of the new facility to the audience and showed, floor by floor, the utilization of space for various museum functions and needs. According to his plan, the newly renovated and expanded building will offer 16,200 square feet of usable space situated on three levels and a lower-level cellar area. Mr. Sawicki explained that the plan satisfactorily answers the museum's requirements of space for exhibitions, collections storage and educational/scholarly specifications by providing ample room for exhibition galleries, preparation of collections, the museum library, a lecture/film/reception hall, workshops, offices, a gift shop, a café/gallery, as well as various necessary public areas.

The board, according to Mr. Sawicki, agreed to the building of a 2,000 square-foot extension to the second floor. The space will be utilized as an exhibition gallery. A fourth floor may also be added, should more space become an issue in the future. The plan is designed to offer a great deal of flexibility for the adaptation of space to needs as they arise. Mr. Sawicki also included a model of the new museum building in his presentation.

At the conclusion of the meeting, former First Vice-President Iwanna Rozankowsky was honored with a commendation plaque for 20 years of outstanding work for the benefit of the museum and was named its honorary member. Prior to the founding of the museum by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America (UNWLA) in 1976, Ms. Rozankowsky, vice-president of the organization, was an enthusiastic proponent of creating such an institution of Ukrainian culture in New York City, and she diligently lobbied on behalf of this concept for many years within the UNWLA and the Ukrainian community. In 1976 during her tenure as president of UNWLA, the museum opened its doors to the public. For two decades Ms. Rozankowsky served as vice-president on the board of trustees of the institution, participating actively in guiding its growth and development.

The executive board of the Ukrainian Museum comprises: Ivan Luchechko, president; Anna Krawczuk, Tatiana Tershakovec, Olha Hnateyko, vice-presidents; Eugene Zmyj, treasurer; Vera Skop and Roman Hawrylak, secretaries; Barbara Bachynsky, Lidia Bilous and Orest Glut, members-at-large.

The museum board of trustees includes: Anna Alyskewycz, Katria Czerwoniak, Oleh Dekajlo, Yaroslawa Gerulak, Titus Hewryk, Bohda Kotys, Lydia Krushelnytsky, Olha Lewicky, Olympia Rohowsky, Areta Pawlynsky, Zoriana Siokalo, Christine Shoh, Ilona Shyprykevich, Maria Tomorug and Ireneus Yurchuk.