At Ukrainian Museum's annual meeting, focus is on new building (06/21/98)

At Ukrainian Museum's annual meeting, focus is on new building

NEW YORK - The annual meeting of The Ukrainian Museum was held on Sunday, May 3, with 113 voting members of the institution and several guests in attendance. The meeting was chaired by Myroslav Shmigel, and its proceedings were recorded by Irena Chaban.

John Luchechko, president of the board of trustees opened the meeting. He invited the assembly to honor the memory of friends of the museum who had passed away the previous year with a moment of silence. The president then proceeded to give a comprehensive report on the state of the museum, detailing the activities of the board during the last 12-month period.

Mr. Luchechko concentrated mainly on the development and current status of the museum's new building project. He recounted the history of the undertaking since its inception in 1985 and explained the various stages in the progression of the project, from the purchase of the industrial building on East Sixth Street, the burning of the mortgage on the property and the feasibility study, to what transpired during the last year.

Mr. Luchechko informed the audience that the firm Greenfield, Sawicki, Tarella, Architects, PC, and architect George Sawicki, who were contracted to design the new building, completed construction drawings in August 1997. Although the drawings were sent to the Building Department of New York City for review almost immediately, they were not returned with the approval until April 29 of this year.

Mr. Luchechko also reported on the search for a building contractor; he said the board had invited four qualified candidates, including one Ukrainian firm, which declined to participate, to bid on the job. DiGiacomo & Sons construction company was chosen because it offered the lowest proposed bid and has a good reputation in the business. Mr. Luchechko assured the audience that the contract with the building contractor is ready to be signed as soon as the museum's financial commitments to the project are secured.

Mr. Luchechko then presented the financial picture of the new building project. The cost of construction of the new building was bid at $5,330,000. Some parts of the project have already been completed, such as the removal of asbestos in the existing structure and partial demolition of the interior. The museum paid for this work, as well as for the work executed by the architect up to the present time. However, the museum still needs $3 million to begin the construction of the building.

Mr. Luchechko went on to describe the museum's most prominent event of 1997: the blessing of the cornerstone for the new building on November 2. The fund-raising luncheon that followed the ceremony was attended by more than 250 people. The event, organized by the Special Events Committee in cooperation with the Building Fund-Raising Committee, raised over $400,000 for the Building Fund.

Next came the report of the museum's treasurer on the board of trustees, Oleh Sawkiw, who reported that at the end of 1997 the museum had $2,800,000 in the Building Fund, of which $2,450,000 was in cash and $350,000 in pledges. During 1997 the Building Fund was enriched by $635,566.

It is the general consensus of the board, Mr. Sawkiw continued, that the building project cannot move forward until construction costs can be covered, either by raising additional money or by securing a loan. The latter, however, will place an additional financial burden on the museum.

During the general discussion period, however, some speakers encouraged the board to begin building, saying that only then will the money begin to come in since people want to see physical signs of activity at the site. Others said that postponing the construction will increase the cost of the project as projected construction costs rise substantially each year.

The director of the museum, Maria Shust, reported on the activities of the institution and the tasks of the administration, which in large part were related to the new building project. Ms. Shust was engaged on a regular basis in working with the Building Committee, the major responsibility of which was to provide the architect with the specifications and needs of the museum.

Reporting on museum exhibitions for 1997, Ms. Shust referred to the folk art exhibition "Preservation of a Heritage: The Village of Uhryniv in the Sokal Region" featuring the collection of Iryna Kashubynsky. The collection represents the lifetime work of one individual, without whose dedication the cultural legacy of Uhryniv would have been lost forever. In 1947 the village fell victim to the "Akcja Wisla" carried out by the Polish government; most of the inhabitants of that village and countless others in the area were forcefully exiled. Ms. Shust explained that this exhibition especially underscores the museum's aim of preserving the cultural heritage of Ukrainians.

The museum director also informed the audience that the exhibition "To Preserve a Heritage: The Story of the Ukrainian Immigration in the United States" has been traveling in Ukraine since 1996. In 1997 the exhibit opened in the Art Palace in Lviv, with other cities in the country as scheduled stops.

Ms. Shust also reported that this year the museum's educational program included several lectures on topics dealing with Ukrainian history and culture presented by scholars, among them, Ihor Sevcenko, professor emeritus of Byzantine history and literature at Harvard University, and visiting from Ukraine, art historian Liudmyla Miliayeva and Prof. Valentyna Borysenko.

The director also reported on the acquisition of important works for the museum's collections, including of such artists as Mykhailo Chereshniovsky, Jacques Hnizdovsky and Volodymyr Balas, as well as caricature drawings by Edward Kozak and a complete collection of the magazine Lys Mykyta. She also informed the assembly that the museum now has a homepage on the Brama website, thanks to webmasters Anna Krill and Max Pyziur.

At the end of their reports, both the museum's board president and the director expressed their thanks to museum members and friends for their generous support during the year.

Vasyl Sosiak, chairman of the Auditing Committee, reported on the execution of a satisfactory audit of the museum's financial records. He praised the board and the administration for their exemplary running of the institution.

The final report came from Barbara Bachynsky, chairperson of the Nominating Committee, who focused on difficulty of finding candidates to fill vacating posts on the board. Although successful in filling other slots prior to the meeting, the committee was not able to propose a candidate for president. During the meeting the post was accepted by Olha Hnateyko, a member-at-large on the board of trustees in 1997. The assembled museum members unanimously voted to accept the Nominating Committee's proposed slate of candidates and the new president. The committee also thanked the outgoing president, Mr. Luchechko, for his leadership during the two years of his tenure.

The following is new roster of the board of trustees of The Ukrainian Museum: Mrs. Hnateyko, president; Anna Krawczuk, Tatiana Tershakovec and Barbara Bachynsky, vice-presidents; Mr. Sawkiw, treasurer; Roman Hawrylak and Vera Skop, secretaries; Orest Glut, Yar Mociuk and Olga Trytyak - members-at-large.

Board members are: Anna Alyskewycz, Katria Czerwoniak, Sophia Hewryk, Lidia Krushelnytsky,Volodymyr Kurylo,Olha Lewicky, Mr. Luchechko, Areta Pawlynsky, Maria Pazuniak, Maria Polanskyj, Zoriana Siokalo, Roma Shuhan, Christine Zarska Shoh, Maria Tomorug and Ireneus Yurchuk.

Auditing Committee members are: Wasyl Sosiak (chairman), Nadia Cwiach, Ihor Hayda and Myroslaw Trojan.