Story by John Petkovic

CLEVELAND, Ohio –  Chickens always get their feather ruffled when they hear this. But the miracle of the Ukrainian Easter Egg is just as impressive as anything any clucker has ever done. That includes laying the thing.

Let’s settle this flap once and for all… Roll out 25th annual Easter Bazaar at the Ukrainian Museum-Archives.  

The eggstravaganza, which opens Friday and runs through April 13, features 700 intricately-decorated eggs, along with workshops and demonstrations.

The UMA — located across from Lincoln Park in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood — has hosted the event since 1993. In that time, it has grown from a small gathering of dozens to an event that attracts 1,000 people, most of them non-Ukrainians.

Mastering the art form requires a Zen-like discipline and a steady hand. After all, these works are actual eggs – not made out of wood, as some believe — and the slightest false move with the metal stylus will crack the shells.

First Step in creating Ukrainian Easter Eggs: Beeswax is applied using a stylus. It prevents dye from seeping into an area, allowing it to remain white – so that another color can be applied later.

Step 2: The kistka is filled with beeswax and begins writing on egg, covering the areas which are to be white. As the beeswax touches the egg , it immediately dries and locks in the white color.

Step 3: The egg is immersed in a jar of dye, where it sits for 10 minutes – until the color seeps into the part of the shell not covered with wax.

Step 4: The wax is removed by melting it over a candle and wiping it off with a cloth. Upon removal, the white spots are ready for another dip in the dye.

Step 5: Varnish is applied to protect the egg, keep the colors from fading and give the shell a glowing sheen.

Step 6: After getting drawn on and dipped and dabbed, this pysanka finally gets to rest – on a bed of nails, which allows the varnish to dry.

The Easter Bazaar also explores the story and evolution of pysanky (pee-SAHN-KEE). Derived from the Ukrainian word for “to write,” it dates back more than 2,000 years. It is also integral to the story of Cleveland’s evolution and the waves of immigration responsible for it — a story the Ukrainian Museum-Archives has documented for decades.

The UMA tells the story of the Ukrainian and American immigrant experience and is perfectly placed to do so — in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, which was settled by Eastern European factory workers. This is what Tremont — via West 14th Street — looked like in ’45.

Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, which is adjacent to Cleveland’s industrial Flats and was once connected to it by the Clark Avenue Bridge, was settled by Eastern Europeans — including Ukrainians. The UMA chose to stay in the neighborhood, even as many Ukrainian immigrants moved to southern suburbs such as Parma.

The neighborhood was settled by Ukrainians and Eastern Europeans who came to work in the Flats factories. The UMA, which was founded in 1952, resisted calls to follow Ukrainian immigrants moving out of the city and into suburbs such as Parma in the 1970s. “We planted our flag in America and also in Tremont,” says Andy Fedynsky, director emeritus and resident scholar at the UMA. “And now we see all these people coming to our festival, one that has become a sign that spring is here and a sign that Tremont and Cleveland are enjoying their own kinds of rebirth.”

Ukrainian Easter eggs

Ukrainian Easter eggs started as a pagan art form that celebrated seasonal rebirth and featured symbols and natural colors that celebrated the harvest. Livestock represented wealth. White stood for purity, green for growth, black for darkness.

The art form took a religious turn when Christianity came to Ukraine in the 10th century. Just as many pagan traditions were folded into Easter so were the eggs. New images were introduced to symbolize Christian themes: fish (Christ), circles (eternal salvation) and dots (Mary’s tears).

In other words, the eggs rolled with changing times. In recent years, pysanky have come to include pop-culture motifs.

They’ve also spawned a new tradition at the Ukrainian Museum-Archives. The event helped make the UMA an anchor in Tremont, not to mention a bride between the Old World roots of the neighborhood and its contemporary makeover.

Ss. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Tremont was completed in 1910. The Cleveland neighborhood boasts a proud Eastern European tradition that includes the Ukrainians. The UMA continues to share that experience and story with shows such as the Ukrainian Easter Bazaar.

Tremont was settled by Eastern Europeans who came to work in factories in the Flats. This aerial shot of the Flats is from 1952, the same year the Ukrainian Museum-Archives opened in Tremont to chronicle the Ukrainian and American experience.

UMA

“My wife Christine Panckuk Fedynsky started the bazaar to celebrate Ukrainian culture,” says Andy Fedynsky, director emeritus and resident scholar at the UMA. “The first attracted mostly Ukrainian-Americans, but now it’s become an event that attracts mostly Americans and is a Cleveland and Tremont tradition as much as it is a Ukrainian tradition.”

The UMA has been a pillar of stability amid a changing Tremont neighborhood since 1952. This circa-1953 shows what the neighborhood looked like back then, when it was populated by factory workers with Eastern European backgrounds.

Tremont was settled by Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans who came to the area to work in nearby factories and have their kids attend Tremont Elementary School.

UKRAINIAN EASTER BAZAAR 2019

What: The 25th annual installment features more than 700 Ukrainian Easter eggs, as well as demonstrations on the art form.

When: It runs 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday; noon-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, April 12; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 13.

Where: Ukrainian Museum-Archives, 1202 Kenilworth Ave. in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood.

Admission: Free. More info: Go to umacleveland.org or call 216-781-4329.