The Ukrainian Museum to bless cornerstone for new building (10/26/97)

The Ukrainian Museum to bless cornerstone for new building

by Marta Baczynsky

NEW YORK - The Ukrainian Museum in New York City will celebrate the blessing of the cornerstone for its new building, to be held on Sunday, November 2, at 1:30 p.m. The event will herald the start of construction of the projected modern, state-of-the-art museum facility.

The blessing ceremony, according to Tania Tershakovec, chair of the museum's special events committee and coordinator of the event, will consist of two parts: the solemn religious blessing ceremony on the site - 222-224 East 6th St. - and a festive luncheon/fundraiser, scheduled for 2:30 p.m., to be held at the Ukrainian National Home, 140 Second Ave. Tickets for the luncheon/fund raiser are $100 per person, with proceeds to benefit the building fund.

"It is a milestone event for our museum and for our community" said Mrs. Tershakovec, "and to help us celebrate it we have invited Ukraine's former minister of culture, Ivan Dziuba, to be our guest speaker at the luncheon."

Dr. Michael Yarymovych, a prominent member of the Ukrainian community in California, has accepted the museum's invitation to serve as master of ceremony. According to Mrs. Tershakovec, that the participation of both Minister Dziuba and Dr. Yarymovych indicates that the museum and its future is not just a subject of local concern, but is of interest and importance to the greater Ukrainian community, as well as to Ukraine.

According to Roman Hawrylak, the chair of the museum's building committee, the architectural plans for the new building are currently in the offices of the New York City Building Department for approval. During October the building committee will review the bids submitted by contractors and sign the building contract. The new building will have 25,000 square feet of space for spacious exhibition galleries, a library, classrooms for workshops, an auditorium, a collection's storage facility, a gift shop and offices.

Raising the funds for the new museum building, the construction of which will cost $4.5 million to $5 million, is the job of the building fund-raising committee, chaired by Anna Alyskewycz. She said that although the Ukrainian community has been very generous and supportive of the project by already contributing more than $2.5 million in donations and pledges, the remaining money still needs to be raised. She explained that the museum's board of trustees hopes to fund the building costs with cash rather than incur bank financing and loans, thereby placing the unnecessary burden of interest on the museum and its supporters.

"Where are our Ted Turners?" asked Mrs. Alyskewycz, who will be accelerating and intensifying the fund-raising campaign as the building project enters the construction phase. She said she was very moved by the TV mogul's expression of generosity with his recent donation to the United Nations. She went on to say that the building fund-raising committee will also be targeting big donors in the Ukrainian community, as well as those unable to give large sums, to help raise the necessary funds for the new museum facility. Mrs. Alyskewycz said she is asking all Ukrainians, in all economic strata, all who care about our heritage, to be as generous as possible and help the fund-raising effort achieve its goal.

The Ukrainian Museum is in the 21st year of its existence. In that time the institution, located on two floors of a brownstone building on Second Avenue in New York City, has conducted its activities in quarters that seem to have progressively diminished in size in comparison to the remarkable growth of its collections and expansion of its agenda. A new, modern museum building has become an absolute necessity to uphold the momentum of its development by insuring the well being of its collections, and the realization of its goals and aims.

The cultural history of the Ukrainian people has always been a significant factor in their journey through history. Therefore, at this period of time and in New York City, the cultural capital of the world, a new, representative and modern Ukrainian museum facility needs to be built to house, preserve and protect the tangible aspects of our cultural legacy and introduce their unique attributes to broad audiences. Equally important - it must be our investment in the future of our children, so that they, too, will know their roots.

For more information about the blessing ceremony and the luncheon/fund raiser, write to: The Ukrainian Museum, 203 Second Ave., New York, NY 10003; or telephone (212) 228-0110.

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