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Pavlo Lopata was born in the village of Kaliniv [Pryashiv region], Slovak Republic on March 20, 1945. He studied at the University of Fine Arts in Bratislava from 1966-1968. In 1969 he emigrated to Canada and resided in Toronto. He obtained a Commercial Arts Diploma from George Brown College [1972] and a Fine Arts Diploma from the Ontario College of Art [1986]. From 1991 to 1998 he was curator and executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation. During this period he organized over 70 exhibits of many different artists from Canada, USA and Ukraine. To create art, Pavlo uses pencil, egg tempera, acrylics and oils. Themes of his works include portraits, wooden churches, icons, linear expressionism and surrealistic symbolism. He is also the author of over 350 articles related to the arts, culture and history, published in periodicals, journals and newspapers.

Over 1,000 of Pavlo Lopata's artistic works can be found in private and museum collections in Canada, USA, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Ukraine. He has held 29 solo exhibits and participated in over 80 group shows. Pavlo now lives and works in his private studio in a Ukrainian community "Poltawa" in Terra Cotta, located northwest of Toronto.

Edward Kozak was born 26 January 1902, in Hirne, Stryi county, Galicia. Caricaturist, illustrator, and painter; feuilletonist, satirist, writer, and editor. He studies at the Vienna Art School (1917) and O. Novakivsky's art school in Lviv (1926), illustrated and edited the satirical periodical Zyz (1926-1933) and Komar (1933-1939) in Lviv, and illustrated the children's magazines Svit dytyny, Dzvinochok (1931-1939), and Iuni druzi (1933-1934) and the books published by I. Tyktor. At the same time, he painted and participated in the exhibitions of the Association of Independent Ukrainian Artists (1933-6) in Lviv.

Emigrating to Germany at the end of the Second World War, he founded the humor magazine Lys Mykyta (1948) and headed the Ukrainian Association of Artists (USOM). In 1949 he settled in the United States, where he worked in animated television films, receiving an award for his work from the National Educational Association in 1957. He resumed publishing Lys Mykyta in 1951, and exhibited his paintings in Detroit, Chicago, Buffalo, Toronto, Edmonton, and Hunter (New York). For a time he illustrated the children's magazine Veselka.

Kozak is best known for his satirical drawings and writings, which amount to a running commentary on political and social developments in the Ukrainian community for over half a century. His caricatures of J. Stalin, which were reprinted in the German, French, Italian, English, Dutch, Polish, and Yugoslavian press, are recognized classics in the field. Many of his paintings deal with folk motifs and display a light-hearted humor and expressive colors; eg, The Market, Sich, Old Inn, and Village. He has published two albums of drawings with witty captions: Selo (The Village, 1949) and EKO (1949). As a satirical writer, he has created the incisive peasant philosopher Hryts Zozulia, under whose name he has published two collections of humorous sketches: Hryts' Zozulia (1973) and Na khlops'kyi rozum Hrytsia Zozuli (According to Hryts Zozulia's Common Sense, 1982). He has written numerous feuilletons and verses under different pen names. Some of the verses are printed in the collection Virshi ironichni, satyrychni i komichni (Ironic, Satiric, and Comic Verses, 1959).

Roman Soltykewych was born on February 4, 1909 in the Village of Ulucz in the Lemko region of Western Ukraine (at that time in Austro-Hungary). His parents were Rev. Orest and Leontyna (née Min'kevych) Soltykewych. (The village was known for having been the location of the founding in 1860 of a choir by Rev. Mykhailo Verbyts'kyi, the author of the music to the Ukrainian national anthem.)

Roman Soltykewych completed gymnasium (high school) in Peremyshl', and went on to study music and conducting at the Lysenko Musical Institute in L'viv, and continued his musical studies in Krakow, where he conducted the students' choir.

Roman Soltykewych returned to his native Lemko lands where he conducted folk and church choirs. And because of his activities as a Ukrainian community activist, he spent time in Polish prisons. And during the Second World War, he also experienced persecution under the Nazi regime.

In 1944, when many were fleeing the Soviet occupation of Ukrainian lands, Roman Soltykewych spent time in Austria and eventually ended up in France, where the founded yet another choir.

in 1951, Roman Soltykewych arrived in Edmonton, and began conducting the choir at St Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. And in 1953, he formed the Dnipro Male Chorus, which began with a small number of singers and eventually grew to be one of the finest Ukrainian choirs in Western Canada.

In 1955, Roman Soltykewych married Stephanie Derech, and they had three children - son Orest, and twin daughters Nadia and Vera.

For several years, Roman Soltykewych conducted the choir at St George's Ukrainian Catholic Parish, and from 1965 until his death he conducted the St. John's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral Choir. During those years, he also founded and conducted the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYMK) Choir.

In 1971, the Dnipro Male Chorus brought female singers into its fold, and became the Dnipro Choir, which had many performances with the Cheremosh Dancers, including a week of performances at Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington. Eventually, the Dnipro Choir became the 120-member Dnipro Ensemble, with orchestra and dancers.

In 1973, Roman Soltykewych was the recipient of the Alberta Achievement Award.

On November 17, 1976 Roman Soltykewych passed away at the age of 67.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Orest Soltykevych started his musical career having completed Royal Conservatory Piano up to the Grade 9 level. He continued his musical studies at the University of Alberta, and completed his Bachelor of Education with a major in secondary music.

Orest has been active with Ukrainian choirs since the age of 15, when he first accompanied the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYMK) Choir. He then joined that choir as a singer, and also sang in and accompanied the Dnipro Choir.

In 1984, Orest became the founding conductor of the Ukrainian Male Chorus of Edmonton, and continues to be its artistic director to this day. In 1986, Orest became the conductor of the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYMK) Choir, and led that ensemble for seven years. Orest was also conductor of the St Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Parish Choir for three years. As well, for the past five years, Orest has been the conductor of the Verkhovyna Choir

In recent years, Orest has sung with the Richard Eaton Singers, the Da Camera Singers, and the Kappella Kyrie Slavic Chamber Choir.

Orest served as a member and later as president of the Ukrainian Music Society for ten years. In 1999, he founded the radio program "Sounds Ukrainian" on radio station CJSR at the University of Alberta, and hosted the program for seven years. Currently, Orest hosts the classical music programs Saturday Breakfast and Sunday Breakfast on the CKUA Radio Network, which broadcasts throughout Alberta.

Five years ago, Orest retired from Edmonton Public Schools after 32 years of teaching and administration.

Biographical note is coming.

Dr. Bohdan Medwidsky was on the committee for Graham's dissertation.

Andriy Nahachewsky is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta. He holds a B.A. in Ukrainian Studies (University of Saskatchewan, 1979), a B.F.A. in Dance (York University, 1985), M.A. and Ph.D. in Ukrainian Folklore (University of Alberta, 1985 and 1991, supervised by Bohdan Medwidsky). He has an extensive background in Ukrainian dance, as a performer, instructor, choreographer, workshop leader, critic, adjudicator, and authour. He has taught a wide variety of courses at the university level in many aspects of Ukrainian and Ukrainian Canadian traditional culture. His research interests and publications deal with Ukrainian dance, Ukrainian Canadian identity, material culture, ethnic representation, and dance theory. He has conducted fieldwork in Canada, the U.S.A., Brazil, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, and other countries. His most recent book is Ukrainian Dance: A Cross-Cultural Approach (McFarland Press, 2012).

Andriy served as the Director of the Peter and Doris Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore and Curator of the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives since their inception and until summer of 2016. Dr. Nahachewsky retired in the summer of 2018, but continues his research and actively participates in the international dance research community.

In September 2001, Myeong Jae Lee went to Kyiv, Ukraine where he taught Korean language at the Kyiv National Linguistic University. He lived in Ukraine from November 2001 to February 2004. In 2005, he graduated with a master of Russian studies degree from the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, Korea. His master's thesis was "The Festival Culture of Eastern Slavs: National Identity and Vitality as a Revival." In 2015, Myeong Jae Lee started his PhD studies at the Department of Information & Archival Science at the same university.

In 2013-2014 academic year, Myeong Jae Lee was the Academic Visitor at the University of Alberta at the Kule Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore. In 2016-2018, he served as the attache at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Myeong Jae Lee has been always interested in the theme of culture, especially folklore, festival and religion. The coexistence of four kinds of festivals with completely different characteristics was the most striking element that he observed in Ukraine: Christian festivals, traditional festivals, Soviet festivals, and new festivals (after the collapse of the Soviet Union). He began to document the festivals by taking pictures and video, and did so for 27 months while in Ukraine. Myeong Jae Lee lived "according to the local calendar", experienced more than 40 festivals, and found every one of them gorgeous. He was able to see the different dimensions of the Ukrainian culture, and the Eastern Slavs’ culture.

Myeong Jae Lee was also attracted by Ukrainian natural landscape and characteristic local colour. He visited about 30 cities and villages in Ukraine including Uzhhorod, Kharkiv, Yalta, and Bila Tserkva.

Myeong Jae Lee thinks photography is one of the best ways to document something, and that as time passes, the value of photography as a record increases. When he stayed in Ukraine he thought he should record Ukrainian daliy life. These photographs and video films will become valuable records and good representation of Ukraine 100 years from the time they were recorded. He was the author of several photo exhibits in 2003-2014, among them: Two Diaries (Gallery Palitra, Kharikiv, Ukraine), The Festival Chronotope of Eastern Slavs (Sejong Center, Seoul, Korea), The Time on the Way (Artbit Gallery, Seoul, Korea), The Wonderland (SangSangMadang Gallery, Seoul, Korea), The Week of Ukrainian Culture (Wangsan Culture&Art Hall, Yongin, Korea), and Photo & Travel (COEX, Seoul, Korea). He also co-authored two publications: The Wonderland, KT&G SangSangMadang (2010) and Youth, Share, and Time On the Way, Photonet (2008).

Larysa Saban is a folklorist and a researcher at the Mykola Lysenko Music Institute in L'viv, Ukraine. She studies folk music and dances. From 1980 and on, Larysa conducted a lot of fieldwork in western part of Ukraine.

Anne Elias was born in 1921 in a Ukrainian family on a farm near Two Hills, Alberta.

Anna Drepko was born in 1925 in Novosilka, a small village in Ternopil, Ukraine. Her life as she knew it was disrupted when the second world war started and she was forcibly taken to Germany to work as a labourer. When the war ended, Anna immigrated to Scotland. There she lived in a hostel with young Ukrainian women, all of whom worked in a thread factory. In 1949, Anna met and married her husband, who was residing in Oldham, England, at the time and who coincidentally was also from Novosilka. They settled in Oldham for the next several years. Shortly after the birth of their first child, Maria, the family immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba where, four years later their second child, Myron, was born. Anna has resided in Winnipeg ever since.

Life in Winnipeg centered around the Ukrainian community, primarily the Ukrainian Canadian Institute Prosvita and the church. It was very important for Anna and her husband to raise their children according to Ukrainian culture and traditions: They enrolled them in the Ukrainian youth organization SUM, Ukrainian dance classes and ridna shkola.
Anna's passion was embroidery. i assume her interest may have been sparked while living and working in Scotland. Upon arriving in Canada, Anna spent a great deal of her spare time embroidering. As life in Winnipeg unfolded, Anna's time eventually became devoted elsewhere, but she did continue to embroider on a lesser scale until the early 1990s.

Anna passed away in Winnipeg on September 8, 2018. The following information is the obituary from the Korban Funeral Home website: Retrieved from https://www.korbanchapel.com/notices/Anna-Drepko on 2019-01-09.

"Peacefully, on September 8, 2018, after a lengthy debilitating illness, Anna entered into God’s Kingdom. Anna was born in Novosilka, Ternopil, Western Ukraine, to parents Antin and Kateryna. At the age of 17, she was taken from her home and family by the German army, to work forced labour on a farm in Germany. She was liberated by the American army when the Second World War ended, and spent time in a DP camp in Germany. From there she immigrated to Paisley, Scotland, where she lived in a hostel with other young Ukrainian women, all of whom worked in a thread factory. When Anna married her husband Hryhorij, they settled in Oldham, England, where their daughter Maria was born. In 1952, Anna and her family crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in Winnipeg, where their son, Myron was born. Beginning a new life in Canada posed many challenges, but Anna and Hryhorij worked tirelessly to provide a good life for their young family.

Anna was very proud of her rich Ukrainian heritage, culture and language. She spent any spare moment embroidering traditional Ukrainian designs. Some of her vyshyvky are at the University of Alberta at the Kule Folklore Centre. She also ensured that her children attended Ukrainian School (Ridna Shkola), Ukrainian dancing, CYM (Ukrainian Youth Organization), and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Anna was a member of the Ukrainian Canadian Institute Prosvita, the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, and Sts. Volodymyr & Olha Cathedral. In later years, she became a member of the Senior’s Club of Prosvita, where she loved to sing, dance and socialize. She also sang in the Dumka Choir.

She always yearned to return to Ukraine. In 1985, she was able to fulfill her dream. She reunited with her family in Ukraine for the first time after being apart for 50 years.

Anna was predeceased by her husband Hryhorij. She leaves to mourn her daughter Maria Stolarskyj, son Myron (Tania), grandchildren Laryssa, Teresa (Tim), Oleh, Kathryn (Jay), Alexa (Shane), great grandchildren, Luke, Sofia and Mia. Anna loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren. They were her pride and joy.

The family thanks Drs. Terry and Andrea Babick for their wonderful care. Thank you to St. Joseph’s Residence for the exceptionally kind and compassionate care of our mom for the past 10 years.

Funeral Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 13, 2018, at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, 250 Jefferson Ave., followed by interment at All Saints Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Oleh Stolarskyj, Myron Pawlowsky, Shane Yanke, Tim Stokes, Jay Comeault, and Andrew Leskiw."

Monica Kindraka Jensen holds graduate degrees in Art History, Comparative Literature, and a PhD in Folklore. She was a graduate student in the Ukrainian Folklore program at the University of Alberta in 1999-2005. Monica defended her doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Andriy Nahachewsky.

Monica worked as a curator in a succession of Contemporary Art museums, Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin, Texas, the last among them. In 1984, she moved to Berkeley where she met her future husband. They now live in Bloomington, Indiana, where Monica continues scholarly pursuits as a Visiting Associate Professor. She volunteers as a docent at the university's Eskenazi Museum of Art and she loves sewing.