Ukrainian artists restore grand old theater in Detroit (05/03/98)

Ukrainian artists restore grand old theater in Detroit

by Kathryn Solovey Babak

DETROIT - As strains of Verdi's "Aida" could be heard in Grand Circus Park in the heart of downtown Detroit, two artists from Ukraine glowed with pride at being essential to the restoration of the lobby of the Detroit Opera House for the 1997-1998 season of the Michigan Opera Theater (MOT). The skills of Volodymyr Mayorchak and Bohdan Chernetsky were essential to this huge restoration project; they both continue to work on the new home of the 25-year-old MOT.

Over the years, the MOT has been performing at several sites in Detroit, but none of them has had the stage facilities to perform a full opera repertoire. In 1988 the MOT invested in the purchase of the once-grand masterpiece known as the Grand Circus Park Theater for their future home.

At its original opening in 1922 the magnificent theater, designed by famed architect C. Howard Crane, was Detroit's first movie palace. Originally known as the Capitol Theater, it was created in the spirit of the great Italian opera houses with murals, stencil work, Tiffany-style glass, crystal chandeliers, marble and hand-molded plaster. Of great interest to the MOT was the theater's superb acoustics. However, the building had been in decline for many years and was finally completely closed in 1985. After its closure, all of the theater's pipes froze and then burst so that a complete $28 million restoration was necessary to bring the theater back to the splendor of its 1922 opening.

Two artists, both of whom recently immigrated from Ukraine, worked extensively on the 2,000-square foot, three-story lobby of the theater. Their work included general and decorative painting of the interior walls, and the painting of 28 murals gracing the lobby. Eight large murals depict allegories - the goddesses of justice, history, fine arts, poetry, theater, music, comedy/tragedy and industry. The original murals had been stretched and hung like easel paintings, but moisture and temperature changes had caused them to crumble and crack. A decision was made to paint new murals on canvas that would reproduce the previous works and apply them directly to the drywall. The Ukrainian artists undertook a new method of doing this works using two different techniques: acrylics for the ornamentation and oil blended with wax for the compositions. This gives an artistic finish to the murals and will help retain their beauty for many years to come.

Mr. Mayorchak has been in the United States since 1994 and resides in the Detroit metropolitan area where he has his studio. He was educated at the Ivan Trush College of Applied Art in Lviv, and then completed his education in 1989 at the Fedorov Ukrainian Polygraphic Institute in Lviv. Mr. Chernetsky graduated from the Lviv Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts (now known as the Artists' Academy) in 1981. He has his studio in the Cleveland area and has been in the United States since 1991.

Both artists have displayed their art work at exhibits in the United States and Europe. They have worked extensively on restoration work and new projects in Ukraine and other European countries, and the U.S. The studios of both men undertake projects of a religious or of secular nature - interior and exterior painting, design and artistic finishing of interiors, gold leafing, monumental paintings and portraiture.

For more information about their work, interested persons may contact Mr. Mayorchak at (734) 525-7197, or Mr. Chernetsky at (440) 888-8845.