Events
A Look Back at the Diorama Exhibition of Ukrainian Children’s Stories
A Look Back at the Diorama Exhibition of Ukrainian Children’s Stories
The Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great hosted a diorama exhibit of Ukrainian Children’s Stories in the Fall of 2024 on the Motherhouse grounds. The exhibit was originally scheduled for October 13 through November 17 but was extended to December 1 owing to popular demand. The collection, occupying 3500 square feet, was created to hand on the literary heritage of Ukrainian folk culture to new generations of youth. The dioramas delighted viewers with moving characters and beautiful scenery, which ranged widely from the historically accurate to the fanciful. They were created by Luba and Andrij Chornodolsky over the last 20 years, but this was the first time all were shown in a single collection.
The Chornodolskys became passionate about teaching Ukrainian folktales to their own children and would invite others in the neighborhood to listen too. 
“There is always a moral to the story, and the moral to the story is how to live with one another. I really liked for children to hear how…to behave in life [and] to help one other,” said Luba.” As interest grew, the Chornodolskys began making miniature scenes for their young audience members. Eventually the number of dioramas increased to a few dozen. Admission was free, but visitors were invited to make donations.
Since the Chornodolskys’ project was originally inspired by children, they felt strongly that the exhibit should benefit children. In the end, $8,493 was raised and sent to Ukraine to support ministry to war orphans by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great of Holy Trinity Province in Lviv. The Sisters would like to thank Luba and Andrij Chornodolsky for their creativity and generosity. They would also like to thank the following people for making the exhibit possible: Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak; Iryna Mazur, Esq., Honorable Consul of Ukraine for Philadelphia; the 88 th Branch of the Ukrainian Women’s League of America; and everyone who made the exhibit possible, visited it and made a donation.