Ukrainian Museum of Canada

Ukrainian Museum of Canada (Український музей Канади; Ukrainskyi muzei Kanady). Canada’s first professional ethnic museum, founded in 1936 in Saskatoon by the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada (SUK) with branches in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto. The museum’s main branch was housed at the Mohyla Ukrainian Institute in Saskatoon for many years before acquiring its own building in 1980. It contains collections of Ukrainian embroidery, weaving, folk costumes, Easter eggs, domestic tools and farm implements, historical photographs and documents, and printed materials. Its gallery owns William Kurelek’s series of paintings of the Ukrainian pioneer woman. In addition to mounting touring exhibitions, the museum has offered courses in arts and crafts and has published works such as Ukrainian Embroidery: Designs and Stitches (1957), Pysanka: Icon of the Universe (1977), and Pobut: Folk Costume Patterns (1986). A catalogue of its library and archival holdings was published in 1989 as The Monograph Collection of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada. Its directors have been L. Lazarovych (1973–80), M. Kishchuk (1981–4), A. Kachkowski (1984–9), and J. Zayachkowski (1989–91).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]