Wycinanki by Sophie Metrofski
ArtistMade by
Sophie Metrofski
1918 - 2012
Date1990-2000
MediumPaper
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
DescriptionWycinanki (Polish paper cuts) made by Sophie Metrofski and displayed in the "Polonia w Connecticut" exhibition at the Institute for Community Research.
2015.196.185.1: Wycinanka, flower design
2015.196.185.2: Wycinanka, tree and birds
2015.196.185.3: Wycinanka, bird
2015.196.185.4-.5: Wycinanki, paper cuts on purple paper
2015.196.185.1: Wycinanka, flower design
2015.196.185.2: Wycinanka, tree and birds
2015.196.185.3: Wycinanka, bird
2015.196.185.4-.5: Wycinanki, paper cuts on purple paper
Object number2015.196.185.1-.5
CopyrightIn Copyright
NotesBiographical Note: Sophie Metrofski (1918-2012) was a Polish artist and educator, and served as a registered nurse in her town of Manchester, Connecticut. She specialized in creating wycinanki, cut paper designs, a popular Polish traditional decorative art. People and organizations in the Polish community collected her work, and she taught several classes in schools and educational settings in Connecticut and Massachusetts. A longtime member of the Polish American Historical Society, Sophie participated in the CCHAP exhibition, “Polonia w Connecticut” in 2000, by loaning several of her wycinanki for display.Subject Note: Wycinanki, pictures made from colored paper cut into shapes, designs and scenes, are a uniquely Polish art form from the late 19th century. Once used extensively to decorate walls and beams in village houses, talented papercutters still create wycinanki to hang on their walls as a sign of ethnicity. The menu at the Polish National Home in Hartford bears a wycinanka on its cover.
Subject Note: "Polonia w Connecticut: Polish American Traditional Arts in Connecticut," an exhibition describing the arts and customs of this large community in Connecticut, was developed by CCHAP in collaboration with members of the Polish community, and was displayed in the gallery of the Institute for Community Research (ICR) from December 7, 2000 to May 2001. The project aimed to bring forward the enduring traditions of Polish American communities in Connecticut by conducting fieldwork in these communities, by collecting art works which express community traditions which still are practiced, by presenting an exhibition and related programming to the public and for schoolchildren, and by developing closer ties with the Polish community as ICR was situated in the heart of Hartford’s historic Polish neighborhood. Project partners included the Polish National Home, Ss. Cyril and Methodius Church and School, the Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford, the Polish Studies Department at Central Connecticut State University, and a number of community-based local Polish artists and collectors. Marek Czarnecki, an accomplished Byzantine iconographer and scholar from the Bristol Polish community, served as co-curator and gave a gallery talk on March 3, 2001. The project produced a catalogue of exhibit texts and information in both English and Polish. At the exhibit opening, performances were given by the Gwiazdeczki Dancers, a longstanding folk dance group from Saints Cyril and Methodius School and Parish, Hartford, and Wladyslaw Furtak, a singer, storyteller and woodcarver from the Gorale region of Poland who resides in Ansonia. Project funders included the Edward T. and Ann C. Roberts Foundation, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Polish Studies Dept. of CCSU.
The exhibit was timed to coincide with the annual "szopka contest" in late November when students from schools in New Britain and Hartford would create szopki - traditional Polish nativity scenes - then bring them to Hartford's Polish National Home on Charter Oak Avenue where a panel of judges awards prizes for excellence and creativity during the annual szopka festival. Some of these szopki were included in the CCHAP exhibit. Traditional art forms such as papercutting (wycinanki), painted eggs (pisanki), icons, embroidery, harvest ornaments, Christmas ornaments, and folk costumes all made by Connecticut Poles were featured, and the exhibit also included handmade altars and figures made for devotional use in people's homes, a common Polish practice. The exhibit demonstrated the beauty, usefulness, and continuation of traditional arts specific to the large Polish-American community in Connecticut, while also noting the ways traditions become altered in a new world setting.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this project.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
On View
Not on view
2000-2001 December-March
