Excellent Year at Oseredok and a New President

At its Annual General Meeting held Wednesday, June 13, 2007, Winnipeg’s Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre proudly presented its members with a very positive Annual Report on its operations for the year ended March 31, 2007.

Over the past year, Oseredok has delivered vibrant and varied programs to the public and collaborated with other cultural and academic institutions in bringing in exhibitions and speakers.  It assembled an exhibition of seventy works of art by thirty-two artists from across Canada and promoted traditional Ukrainian Folk Arts through a series of workshops for children and adults. It also continued to provide research and reference services through its archives and library and worked on upgrading access to these collections. The Centre’s collections were enhanced by many gifts, among them, works by Leo Mol and Taras Snihurowycz.

The President, Ken Romaniuk, completing six years in office, acknowledged ongoing operating grants from the Province of Manitoba, Culture, Heritage and Tourism, as well as from the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council. He noted the continued support of the Ukrainian Canadian Taras Shevchenko Foundation and the St. Boniface Ukrainian Foundation.

He recognized the great dedication and commitment of the Board of Directors and numerous volunteers in leading the Centre and delivering programs and services.  “The Centre has seen steady growth and development from total reliance on volunteers a few years ago to a very modest staff with an executive director today,” he stated. He thanked his colleagues on the Board of Directors for their fine stewardship of the institution and then presented certificates of acknowledgement to directors leaving the Board – Ostap Hawaleshka, Linda Hunter, Anne Banera, Mary Jane Kalenchuk and Pat Bielak.

In presenting the outgoing President Ken Romaniuk with a gift of an Orest Polischuk print, Scott Armstrong, Treasurer, spoke about the process of rebuilding Oseredok that occurred over the past six years under Romaniuk’s leadership.  Oseredok faced a huge debt and the real possibility of closure that brought on a crisis of community trust in the institution’s ability to exist.  “Today, the Centre needs to acknowledge and express its gratitude to those individuals who lead the institution through those unstable times, put the Centre’s financial house in order and brought to it the financial stability that is evident in this year’s financial statements.  The optimism we feel about the future is built upon the achievements of the last six years and the dedicated efforts of individuals like Ken Romaniuk,” asserted Armstrong.

The presidential torch was passed from Ken Romaniuk to Oleh Gerus. Members elected him as President and Nadya Kostyshyn-Bailey as Vice President. Oleh Gerus is a professor of history at the University of Manitoba. He has been active on the boards of many Ukrainian community organizations, such as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Shevchenko Foundation, St. Andrew’s College and the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies at the University of Manitoba, among others. His connection with Oseredok is a longstanding one, both as a researcher and historian accessing its archival collections, as well as a past director and president of the institution.  He brings a combination of experience and vision to the Centre.

In his address to the members, Prof. Gerus spoke about the uniqueness of the Centre with its variety of resources and programs.  He underlined the important role that Oseredok plays as the keeper the community’s collective memory, a legacy that requires the ongoing financial support of the community. He noted that “the holdings of Oseredok, its archives, library, art and ethnology collections are national treasures that deserve to be shared with the community.” He concluded by speaking about the challenges of the future – the need to further develop professional staff, the need to facilitate access to the collections through the Internet and the need to secure the financial resources to meet these challenges. He expressed confidence in the Centre’s ability to build success in the present and to provide for the future.

SMK