This Friday, January 12, 2023, at 7 PM the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, Chicago, presents:
“The Road to Global Conquest: Stalinist Expansionism and the Baltic Region, 1917-1953”
A lecture by Dr. Alexander Gogun from the Free University of Berlin
Dr. Gogun is the author of Stalin’s Commandos: Ukrainian Partisan Forces on the Eastern Front (2016), which documents Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s scorched earth tactics in Ukraine and the looting, boozing, rapes, and violence of Stalin’s guerrilla forces. As Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine bares witness, aspects of Putin’s conduct of war chillingly mirror Stalin’s. This Friday, January 13, 7 PM at the Balzekas Museum, Dr. Alexander Gogun will shed light on Stalin’s expansionism, its implications for the Baltic region, and what lessons these historical events have for today.
About Dr. Alexander Gogun
Dr. Alexander Gogun is currently pursuing research at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute at the Free University of Berlin. He has taught at Potsdam University and held a fellowship at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam, the Daymel Shklar Fellowship at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, a postdoctoral fellowship at the International Institute for the Holocaust Studies Yad Vashem, the Diane and Howard Wohl Fellowship at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum as well a research fellowship at the Haddasah-Brandeis Institute – Brandeis Genesis Institute. He is the author of several monographs and editor of the document collections on Ukrainian nationalism, Soviet partisans, Nazi propaganda, and the foreign policy of the Soviet Union.
His film Stalin’s Apocalypse: Third
Address: Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
6500 S. Pulaski Rd., Chicago, IL 60629.
Admission: FREE OF CHARGE Donations at the door are always welcome.
Reservations requested by telephone: 773-582-6500
Or by email here: [email protected].
Refreshments, including Lithuanian beer and Kugelis, will be served
This program is sponsored in part by the Members and Donors of the Balzekas Museum and a CityArts grant through the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The Museum gratefully acknowledges these contributors for their support.
Join us at the Balzekas Museum for a special three-evening Master Class on making traditional Lithuanian straw ornaments. Classes will be conducted by artist/educator Laura Lapinskas. Traditionally, ornaments were made from natural straw, but resourceful city-dwellers began to use more easily available paper and plastic straws for this purpose.
Participants will also have an apportunity to view examples of paper, plastic, and natural straw ornaments from the Museum’s exhibits and collections, and to learn about the origin and significance of ornaments and sodai, their pagan predecessors. The history of decorating Lithuanian Christmas trees in the United States will also be highlighted.
Join us at the Balzekas Museum for a special three-evening Master Class on making traditional Lithuanian straw ornaments. Classes will be conducted by artist/educator Laura Lapinskas. Traditionally, ornaments were made from natural straw, but resourceful city-dwellers began to use more easily available paper and plastic straws for this purpose.
Participants will also have an apportunity to view examples of paper, plastic, and natural straw ornaments from the Museum’s exhibits and collections, and to learn about the origin and significance of ornaments and sodai, their pagan predecessors. The history of decorating Lithuanian Christmas trees in the United States will also be highlighted.
Balzekas Museum welcomes the Kalnas Ensemble string quartet featuring original compositions inspired by ancient Lithuanian folk music
On Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture welcomes the Kalnas Ensemble to Chicago for what promises to be a memorable concert and exploration of the origins of Lithuanian music. “Kalnas” means “hill” in Lithuania and points to the group’s ethnographic and geographic origins. For the past 150 years, the hills of Pennsylvania have been home to many Lithuanian immigrants and their descendants, who settled the region, worked in the region’s coal mines, and passed down their deep love of traditional Lithuanian music. Founded by Composer, Educator, and Violinist Dr. Stanley Chepaitis, the string quartet’s repertoire will include Chepaitis’s original compositions inspired by ancient Lithuanian traditional plyphonic folk songs called “sutartinės.” Everyone is welcome to attend.
Time: Reception at 6PM – Concert at 7PM
Location: Amber Ball Room, Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, 6500 S. Pulaski Rd., Chicago IL 60629
For more information, please contact Sigita Balzekas 773-582-6500.
ABOUT THE KALNAS PRESENTATION
A performance by the Kalnas Ensemble is more than just a concert of passionately played music. It is an exploration of the roots of that music, bringing together aspects of folklore, psychology, history, and the physics of sound. For this program, the Kalnas Ensemble will initiate the audience into the unique ethos of Lithuanian traditional music through discussions and demonstrations of its stories, melodies, and rhythms as envisioned in Dr. Stanley Chepaitis’ original works.Chepaitis dives deeply into his own Lithuanian heritage, and into the heart of the songs, stories, and dances which form the basis and inspiration for the music he creates. From the ancient Sutartinės, which come out of northeastern Lithuania, to more recent folk songs from around the country, this music paints a picture of ancient and medieval Lithuanian life in its focus on nature and the cycles of life. The string quartet’s voices represent a search for the timeless Lithuanian soul and an attempt to bring that soul to modern ears. This performance by the Kalnas Ensemble is designed to offer an appreciation of the deep roots of Lithuanian culture and its impact on the culture of America and of all humanity in the 21st century.
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED STATES RECOGNITION OF LITHUANIAN INDEPENDENCE, PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE PREMIERE OF THE NEW LITHUANIAN DOCUMENTARY FILM!
The Lithuanian American Community presents:
BAlzeks Msueum, a documentary film about the efforts of the Lithuanian Americans to support Lithuania‘s independence a hundred years ago.
Film director – Arvydas Reneckis
When: July 29, Friday, 7 pm.
Where: Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, 6500 S. Pulaski Rd., Chicago, IL 60629
Tickets: Donation. Light refreshments will be served.
The Balzekas Museum gratefully acknowledges its members, donors, and the following grantors for their partial support: the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Culture and Special Events through CityArts.
Colleen McGaughey (she/her) is the director of development at the National Public Housing Museum, where she leads the strategic direction of the museum’s fundraising efforts with a focus on creative and community-centric approaches.
Mario Longoni
Board Member
Mario Longoni is a cultural anthropologist (“Lead Environmental Social Scientist”) in the Keller Science Action Center at the Field Museum. For over 20 years, he has worked with individuals and organizations to surface and activate cultural and natural assets (specific strengths and characteristics) to help communities meet the challenges they face.
Rob Fojtik
Board Member
Rob Fojtik is Vice President for Neighborhood Strategy at Choose Chicago, the city’s official tourism and convention promotion bureau. In this capacity, Rob oversees efforts to promote and support Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods to visitors from near and far. Programs include the award-winning Neighborhood Content Creator program that leverages resident-made digital content, and Chicago Alfresco, a $2.5 million placemaking initiative created in partnership with the Chicago Department of Transportation to transform public spaces into community plazas for outdoor enjoyment.
Before coming to Choose Chicago, Rob was a Senior Advisor to Mayor Lightfoot on economic development and international relations at City Hall, as well as LGTBQ+ affairs and the expanded outdoor dining program. In this role, he also worked to recommend and place over 150 civic leaders and residents onto City boards and commissions. Prior to government service in the Lightfoot administration, Rob ran her winning campaign in the crowded 2019 Chicago mayoral race as Chief of Staff. In past lives, Rob has worked as a public affairs manager for a Fortune 500 company downtown; had misadventures in management consulting, art sales, and personal cheffing; and spent time in Washington DC working for former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Rob also served a one-year appointment at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence as a policy advisor on Central and Eastern Europe. In this role, he was part of the NSC’s interagency process to develop a comprehensive sanctions regime on Russia as a consequence of its 2014 invasion of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.
After receiving his BA in Slavic Languages and Literature at Northwestern University, Rob lived and worked in the Czech Republic teaching English and tending bar before moving to Washington, D.C. to pursue a MA from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CERES). He enjoys cooking, learning foreign languages, hiking with his partner and their dog, and visiting Chicago’s many neighborhoods.
Paul Durica
Board Member
Dr. Paul Durica is the Director of Exhibitions at the Chicago History Museums and worked in a similar capacity at The Newberry Library. From 2015-2020, he served as the Director of Programs and Exhibitions with Illinois Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Prior to that he drew upon his work as a writer, researcher, and teacher to produce a series of free and interactive talks, walks, and reenactments focused on narratives from Chicago’s past that resonate with its present.
These public history programs led to collaborations with cultural institutions in the city such as the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Chicago History Museum, Newberry Library, Chicago Architecture Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Chicago Cultural Center among others.
Each program made use of both his original research and the skills of the arts organizations, community groups, local businesses, and publications that acted as my partners. Some of these programs, such as the full-scale reenactment of the Haymarket Affair in 2011, involved recruiting and directing over 300 volunteers and 1,000 participants.
To produce these programs successfully, he wrote grants; managed budgets; generated web content; worked closely with program partners of varying sizes and resources; and identified, engaged, and sustained a diverse multi-generational audience.
Lynessa Rico
Board Member
Dr. Lynessa M. Rico is the Associate Chair of the Business Psychology Department at the The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Chicago campus. She is also a business mentor at 1871.
Lynessa is a results-driven Strategic Consultant with over 25 years of experience enabling leaders to meet strategic business objectives by identifying and aligning business growth opportunities with strategic direction of culturally diverse organizations. By leveraging her strategic experience in identifying and impacting business growth opportunities and maximizing profits in retail firms and higher education institutions, Lynessa leads workshops focused on the creative mindset, women’s entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence, and the value and application of design thinking within entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Her services also include consulting with and educating leadership on emotional intelligence, the power of design thinking and the creative mindset, and leadership styles to support inclusive, creative workplaces. She has presented to leadership and innovation teams in small, mid-size, and Fortune 500 companies.
Lynessa received her undergraduate degrees in Marketing and Management from Wichita State University. She then went on to earn a master’s degree in Business Administration from Wichita State University with a focus in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. After earning her master’s degree, Lynessa received her doctorate in Business Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology where she successfully completed her dissertation titled, “The Relationship Between Personality Types and Color Preference for Color Combinations.” Her current research interests include women’s entrepreneurship, design thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, and entrepreneurship self-efficacy.
Outside of work and research, Lynessa enjoys mentoring start-ups and judging pitch competitions. Lynessa currently resides in Chicago, Illinois with her four cats. She is an avid long-distance runner, having completed 5 full marathons (and counting), and enjoys watching musical theater.
Briana Thomas
Board Member
Briana Thomas is the Museum Associate at the Abrahamic Center for Cultural Education (a core member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance). She wears many hats including developing exhibition content, facilitating community programs (children and adults), liaising with visitor artists, and other responsibilities. Her previous experience in the nonprofit space includes her tenure as the Financial Empowerment Coordinator at AMERICORPS Sharing Life Center as well as engaging with the public at the Dallas Arboretum. Her past professional experience has remained rooted in marginalized communities. It is their needs,discourse and histories that she has routinely been tasked with protecting and showcasing in the face of poor infrastructure, and willing ignorance. Creating safe spaces is an ancestral practice she has inherited.
