The Spurlock Museum and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center (REEEC) at the University of Illinois are holding two Ukrainian Easter egg decorating workshops on March 26. The workshops will be held from 12:00 to 2:00 PM and 2:30 to 4:30 PM and are open to participants from 5th grade through adult. The workshops are free, but registration is required. Contact Kim Sanford at ksheahan@illinois.edu (email link) to make a reservation. The workshops will be held at the Anita Purves Nature Center, 1505 N. Broadway, Urbana.
The creation of Ukrainian Easter eggs, called pysanky, is a centuries-old custom in which eggs are decorated through a wax-resist or batik method. Traditionally, the eggs are made during the last week of Lent and given to friends and loved ones as a gift of life. Both the patterns and the colors used in decorating the eggs have significance.
The workshop will be led by Catharine Green, who learned to create pysanky as a teenager. A computer programmer by day, she is happy to share the knowledge of this quiet art with her workshop participants. Catharine lives with her husband of 45 years on acreage in Indiana that is farmed organically and is home to honeybees, chickens, ducks, a couple of geese, and a barn cat. The wax she uses in creating her own Easter eggs comes from the honeybees.
The Spurlock Museum acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
Masks are required in the Anita Purves Nature Center.
