August 18th, 2026

Members of the Chicago Cultural Alliance came together once again for our recurring Archives Crawl program. We are grateful to CCA Core Member, the The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA), for hosting our latest Archives Crawl on August 18th. We are especially grateful to Elena Smolynets, Permanent Collection and Archive Manager, for leading an incredible tour filled with rich stories about the artists, UIMA’s history, and even the architecture of the space.

Our visit began with Home Grown Vol. III, on view through September 6. The exhibition features Midwest artists whose work draws inspiration from nature and incorporates materials and techniques including natural pigments and dyes, plant reliefs, hand-pulled paper, botanicals, mycelia, and artist-made bioplastics.

From there, we explored an extensive selection of works by Jacques Hnizdovsky (1915–1985), one of the most celebrated Ukrainian American artists of the 20th century. Drawn from UIMA’s Permanent Collection, the exhibition is part of the Institute’s 55th anniversary celebration and reflects its longstanding commitment to preserving and promoting Ukrainian art and culture.

Our visit concluded with a behind-the-scenes tour of the archives and a peek at works from the permanent collection. One highlight was Navigational Guide, a large metal sculpture by Mychajlo Urban (b. 1928). We each took turns getting a closer look as the tall sculpture gently moved back and forth, almost like a waving arm.

Thank you to UIMA and Elena for welcoming us and sharing the stories, artwork, and collections that make the Institute such a special place.