Come take a look at an exhibit in the library gallery now through April 7, curated by Academic Support Center Director Jennifer-Kristina Jones. Textile arts, apparel, ceramics and elaborate Ukrainian Easter eggs called pysanky are on exhibit, as well as educational materials about the traditional motifs and techniques of these arts.

Exhibit objects are on loan from Yana Walder and the family of Olena Lilia Kricka, maternal grandmother of Jennifer-Kristina Jones.

Also on display in the library is a set of books related to Ukrainian history and culture.

Also available, with both of these exhibits, are packets of sunflower seeds provided by “Vermont Plants Sunflowers for Ukraine,” a Vermont-based community action group. Their mission is

“to inspire countless acts of solidarity with the people of Ukraine by sharing thousands of free seed packets and inspiring the planting of hundreds of thousands of sunflowers in every corner of Vermont. Come late summer and fall, our message of multi-colored sunflowers splashed against our blue Vermont sky will give us all hope and inspiration for positive action. Every seed planted will be a statement of solidarity.”

All are welcome to take some seeds and plant them to contribute to this effort.

Jennifer-Kristina Jones has also organized a lecture and a workshop celebrating and educating about the Ukrainian tradition of pysanty Easter eggs.

March 30, 2023 12:30 pm
Herrick Auditorium—Lecture
Christine Levy—Pysanky artist
Christine Levy is a self-taught artist who works primarily in two art forms: pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs) and ceramics. As a second generation Ukrainian American, she learned the history, significance, and art of pysanky as it is passed down through family traditions. She has been writing pysanky most of her life, starting when she was about ten. Christine lives in upstate NY in rural Washington County and has an art studio in nearby Cambridge NY where she works and teaches. She participates with the Ukrainian community in sharing the beautiful tradition of pysanky with anyone who has an interest.
Website: http://christinelevy.com

March 30, 2023 1:30 pm
Fine Arts Center—Instruction
Open only to students of Castleton University. Please register for this hands-on class in beginner pysanky writing with Professor Schemm. Space is limited to ten students.

This year’s Vermont Reads book choice is The Most Costly Journey: Stories of Migrant Farmworkers in Vermont, Drawn by New England Cartoonists. The library has multiple copies, so come on in, ask for a copy at the circulation desk, and check one out. You can see a preview of the book online.

On Thursday, April 13th at 6:30 pm in the Hoff Hall conference room, in a joint program put on by the Castleton University library and the Castleton Free Library, you can come discuss the book, and meet representatives of the nonprofit organization Migrant Justice as well as local farmworkers. They will talk about the challenges they face as well as the organizing work that Migrant Justice is doing to improve conditions for farmworkers through the Milk with Dignity Campaign.

Hoff Hall is Number 26 on this map.

You can learn more about this year’s book and how it was created, the experiences of migrant farmworkers in Vermont, and the Vermont Reads program on the Vermont Humanities Council website.