Ukrainian Institute in Central Park
A trip to New York City’s Central Park will take tourists into worlds they didn’t know existed, such as the Ukrainian Institute of America , located at 2 East 79th Street. The Institute exists to promote a greater understanding and appreciation in the United States of both Ukraine’s contemporary and traditional arts, music, literature, history and culture. It also has a goal of developing a stronger sense of community and identity among those people of Ukrainian descent through concerts and lectures and exhibits. For this reason, stopping by the Ukrainian Institute will provide visitors with a number of interesting opportunities to see fascinating Ukrainian exhibits and performances.
Events at the Institute don’t appear to be set too far in advance, at least not on their website, so it’s a good idea to check on what programs are offered, especially if you’re staying near Central Park . Most recently, the Institute offered music by pianist Valentina Lisitsa, who performed Chopin’s Twenty Four Etudes on April 24th. The cost of such an event is about thirty dollars; it’s five dollars cheaper if you’re an UIA member or a senior. If you’re a student, it’s ten dollars cheaper. The Ukraine in Photography, an ongoing exhibit by Yevgen Kovtonyuk, may be seen through May 16th. The gallery will be open to the public from Tuesday through Sunday, from noon to six in the evening.
Of even greater interest to fans of architecture is the historic mansion which houses the Ukrainian Institute. This mansion falls in the middle of Central Park’s Museum Mile, that also includes the Guggenheim Museum and the Frick Collection . This amazing house is designed in a French Renaissance style, and was built in 1898 when a railroad investor and banker, Isaac Fletcher, commissioned famed architect C.P.H. Gilbert to construct a home using as a template the neo-Loire Valley chateau of William Vanderbilt. The original owner so liked the home that he hired an artist to paint it. The painting, by Jean Francois Raffaelli, was then given to the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1917.
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