Anthracite Museum to focus on pysanky

SCRANTON, Pa. - Just in time for Easter, on Saturday, April 5, the Anthracite Heritage Museum will again host two identical workshops featuring the Ukrainian art of decorating Easter eggs, known as pysanky - a popular program that has become an annual event celebrating folk art and crafts at the museum.

The first workshop will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and the second program from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Participants may register for only one of the sessions.

A $5 fee is required for each participant to cover material costs for the program, which is designed for participants age 12 and above. For more information and to register for either workshop, contact the museum at (570) 963-4804.

Ukrainians have been widely credited for elevating the beautifullly decorated egg to a popular folk-art form, a practice dating to pre-Christian times. Neighboring peoples such as the Poles, Lithuanians and Hungarians began similar egg-decorating techniques including scratch-carving and wax-resistant decorating. Workshop instructor Irene Sherman will introduce participants to the traditions of the pysanky art and the techniques of egg-decorating, enabling students to design and make their own pysanky in preparation for the Easter holiday, when pysanky are traditionally exchanged.

The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum is located in McDade Park, off Keyser Avenue (Exits 182 or 191B off I-81, and Exit 122 from I-476). The museum is open year-round Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 30, 2003, No. 13, Vol. LXXI

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