The Ukrainian Museum in New York is the largest museum outside Ukraine dedicated to preserving, studying, and presenting the artistic, cultural, and socio-historical heritage of the Ukrainian people.
History
The museum was founded in 1976 at the initiative of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA).
In 2005, the museum moved into a new 25,000-square-foot building designed by Ukrainian-American architect George Sawicki (The Sawicki Tarella Architecture + Design). This move provided the museum with a modern space for exhibitions and collection storage.
Collection and Exhibitions
The museum’s collection spans a broad range—from traditional folk crafts to modernist art.
It includes more than 8,000 objects of traditional Ukrainian art: embroidery and textiles, wedding dresses and regional costumes, ritual cloths (rushnyky), kilims, ceramics, wooden and metal artifacts, decorative household items from the 19th–20th centuries, and intricately decorated Easter eggs (pysanky).
It also preserves paintings, graphics, and sculpture from the 19th–21st centuries, created by prominent Ukrainian and diaspora artists.
The museum library contains more than 30,000 items: photographs, documents, personal correspondence, posters, programs, and printed ephemera.
The museum regularly organizes temporary exhibitions and thematic showcases. Here are several notable examples:
- Alexandra Exter: The Stage Is a World (2024–2025) — the artist’s first exhibition in North America, featuring more than 35 works spanning 1913–1934.
- Boris Mikhailov (2025–2026) — the first major U.S. museum exhibition of the acclaimed Ukrainian photographer. It includes the series “Yesterday’s Sandwich” and “Parliament”, reflecting everyday life and political realities of post-Soviet Ukraine.
- The Wreath: A Century of Ukrainian Women Beyond the Ocean (2025–2026) — an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the UNWLA.
- Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910–1930 (2006–2007) — one of the first large-scale exhibitions of early Ukrainian modernism presented in New York.
In addition to exhibitions, the museum regularly hosts cultural and educational programs: folk-art workshops (embroidery, pysanky), lectures, concerts, film screenings, and catalog publications — all aimed at promoting Ukrainian culture.
Useful Information
Website: www.theukrainianmuseum.org
Address: 222 E 6th St, New York, NY 10003
Admission: $8
