A collaboration between The Institute for Community Research and Manchester Community College, the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program (CHAP) Folk Art and Festival Series will explore Eastern European culture in Connecticut with a day-long bus tour on Saturday, September 9, 2006 from 10 am to 6:30 pm. Traditional artists from Polish and Ukrainian communities will share their work, art, spirituality, and food with the tour guests.

CHAP Director Lynne Williamson will lead guests to the studio of iconographer and community scholar Marek Czarnecki, who will demonstrate icon painting and discuss the history and use of this art form. After his presentation and a Polish lunch, Czarnecki will then accompany the tour to Terryville, CT to see the remarkable icon screen at St. Michael's Byzantine Catholic Church and the extraordinary traditional egg painting done by Father Paul Luniw. The tour will continue on to St. Stanislaus Church in Bristol, where guests will view traditional harvest decorations, and attend the Dozynki Harvest Festival on the grounds of the church. Tour-goers can attend the harvest mass if they wish, and can experience Polish music along with a variety of foods, while meeting Polish residents at the outdoor festival.

The Connecticut Folk Art and Festivals Bus Tour Series was developed in 2004 to acquaint audiences with the rich ethnic and occupational cultures and groups that reside throughout the state. Lynne Williamson, Director of the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Program at the Institute for Community Research and the tour creator says, “ Our tours bring people face to face with some of the finest artists working in traditional forms that have existed for decades or even centuries. This kind of travel gives us the opportunity to experience cultures that may seem foreign but in fact are right here among us.”

The tour meets at Manchester Community College on Saturday, September 9, 2006 at 10 am and will return by 6:30 pm. For more information on the series, please contact Lynne Williamson at lynne.williamson@icrweb.org or 860-278-2044 x251. The cost, which includes lunch, is $75. To register, please contact Manchester Community College’s Continuing Education Department at (860) 512-3232 or (860) 512-2800. 

For more information about this spring’s series of Connecticut Folk Art and Festivals Bus Tours, please contact Lynne Williamson at 860-278-2044 x251 or . To register please call Manchester Community College Continuing Education at (860) 512-3232 or (860) 512-2800.

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The Institute for Community Research is an independent research institute that conducts applied research and supports community enhancement programs on issues of health, education and cultural heritage. Its Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program encourages and promotes traditional artists and their communities through an active process of documentation, technical assistance, and public presentations to bring their work and the history of their communities to new audiences.