Press Releases 2007

New Ukrainian Exhibition in Folklife Center

Down Jersey Folklife Center at WheatonArts
opens new exhibition
“Folk Art Collections: Ukrainian Riches”

Millville, NJ - The Down Jersey Folkife Center at WheatonArts presents, “Folk Art Collections: Ukrainian Riches,” a new exhibit opening April 13 and continuing through August 31. The exhibition focuses on Ukrainian folk arts and the collection and creations of Vera Nakonechny, a member of the Center’s advisory board.

The exhibit is the first of a series of exhibitions devoted to folk art collections of advisory board members. It will feature a variety of traditional costumes, woodcarvings, pottery, gerdane (jewelry), embroidery and weavings whose designs and techniques have been brought from different regions in Ukraine – Hutsul, Poltava, Horodenko, Pokutya, Bukovina, Chernihiv, Boyko, Lemko, Snyaten, Ternopil and others. Visitors will listen to Ukrainian traditional music performed on bandura and see the instrument on display. The display of brightly colored Easter eggs called pysanky, Ukraine’s specialty, features a variety of patterns and symbols from many different Ukrainian regions.

A part of the former Soviet Union and long known as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine also has a fertile cultural heritage. Nakonechny’s own specialties are Ukrainian embroidery, textiles and beadwork, particularly from the western region of Hutsul. She first encountered them as a child growing up in a Ukrainian community in Brazil where her parents, who had been captured and sent to Germany during World War II, emigrated in 1949. She recalls, “My mom would always talk about the different embroidery techniques.”

But she did not begin studying embroidery techniques seriously until her family came to the United States in 1962 and settled in Philadelphia. Married and starting a family of her own, she began teaching those techniques to others, first as a counselor in the Ukrainian American Youth Association and later as a member of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America.

“I really started in order to make sure my kids would know what the true forms (of embroidery) were,” she said.

One of her embroidery specialties was nyz, which she studied with master artist Eudokia Sorochaniuk and in which the embroidering is done on the rear of the fabric and the pattern appears on the front. Samples of her other specialty, rushnyky (Ukrainian ritual towels), are also on display at the Folklife Center.

In addition to teaching these techniques locally, she also has tried to revive them in Ukraine, where she found on a visit a few years ago to relatives still living there, that the old traditions were disappearing: in part because of its years under Soviet rule. Nakonechny explains, “They were trying to destroy folk art and create Soviet art.”

The exhibition opening reception is April 13 at 5:30 p.m. It will be hosted by the Center’s Advisory Board and will be held in the Down Jersey Folklife Center at WheatonArts. Collections of other advisory board members, including quilter, Merry May, and folk musician, Jim Albertson, will be presented following Nakonechny’s exhibition.

The Down Jersey Folklife Center, the largest in the state, offers special exhibits, programs and performances featuring the culture and tradition of major heritage communities that have settled in southern New Jersey. It is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, Noon to 5 p.m., and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The exhibition is included in the price of admission to WheatonArts: Adults $10.00, Senior Adults $9.00 and Students $7.00. Children five and under are free.

WheatonArts strives to ensure the accessibility of its exhibitions, events and programs to all persons with disabilities. Individuals needing special assistance or accommodations should provide notice at least two weeks in advance. Patrons with hearing and speech disabilities may contact WheatonArts through the New Jersey Relay Service (TRS) 800-852-7899 or by dialing 711.

The DJFC is a division of Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Inc., a non-profit arts organization. The DJFC receives support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of Cultural Affairs in the Department of State; Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. The DJFC is further supported by residents and groups with an interest in the traditional art and culture of southern New Jersey. Additional funds provided by the New Jersey Cultural Trust.

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