Explore the Art of Ukrainian Pysanky
Wednesday, February 28 6-9:30pm
AIMM 102
Free and Open to the Public
Pre-registration required: https://forms.gle/VGYLvW9b52x87fEh8
Join the TCNJ Art Gallery and expert artists and learn to write your own pysanka (Ukrainian Easter egg.) You will learn the process of using wax and dyes to create a design, and the history and meaning of the colors and symbols traditionally used in Ukrainian pysanky.
The workshop will be led by teaching artists Christine Maddalena, Cindy Michalak, and Dr. Natalka Pavlovsky.
Artist Biographies
Christine Maddalena
Christine Maddalena has been writing pysanky for many years. Taught by her grandmother at a young age, she immediately fell in love with the art and, together with her sisters, makes new creations every year. Christine is married and has taught all 3 of her children the art of pysanky, as well as nieces, nephews and friends. She also loves music, plays the piano and sings in her church choir with her fellow instructors Cynthia and Natalka.
Cindy Michalak
Cindy Michalak is a Ewing, NJ native and lifelong artist. She learned to make pysanky as a child from her mother and continued to develop her artistic talent as an Art & Archaeology major at Princeton University. Her professional trajectory has drawn her toward education—she holds a master’s degree in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania and serves as Director of College Counseling at Stuart Country Day School. However, her love for art, music, and her Ukrainian heritage remain ever-present in her life.
Dr. Natalka Pavlovsky
Natalka Pavlovsky is a first-generation Ukrainian-American whose creative life has orbited the twin lights of art and music. An educational Jersey Girl, Dr. Pavlovsky graduated from Rutgers University, then completed her graduate work at Princeton University, earning her Ph.D. in Musicology. She is Professor of Music at Rowan College South Jersey, where she has taught since 2005. In addition to her lifelong passion for painting, Natalka loves to spend time in the kitchen, or outdoors (preferably in a kayak, on a hiking trail, or in water). She and her husband have one adult son.
Co-Sponsored by the R. Barbara Gitenstein Library
For more information, please contact margarep@tcnj.edu
