The Ukrainian Artistic Community in the United States in the late 1940s to the 1960s: A Socio-Cultural Portrait

Abstract

The article analyzes the socio-cultural life of the Ukrainian artistic community—visual artists—who actively worked or began their professional activities in the United States after the World War II (from the end of the 1940s until the 1960s). The main centers of their settlement in the United States are identified, and their belonging to different waves of Ukrainian emigration and generations is classified. The paper also identifies the educational level of the community members, some art schools, where Ukrainian artists studied in the United States, and traces the process of professional adaptation and/or their professional realization in emigration, as well as their involvement in the cultural activities of the local Ukrainian diaspora. The aim of the paper is to identify the main features of the socio-cultural portrait of the Ukrainian artistic community in the United States during this period. The problem of the socio-cultural integration of artists outside their homeland is actualized in the context of a new wave of mass emigration from Ukraine against the backdrop of war and globalization. The article introduces little-known materials on the issue; systematizes and summarizes the collective experience of Ukrainian artists in entering the American socio-cultural environment; highlights some characteristics of the community. It is stated that the majority of Ukrainian artists of the older generation who arrived in the United States after World War II, having passed the initial difficult stage of social adaptation, integrated into American society. A large group of fine artists combined their creativity with stable work in areas close to their main specialty. At the same time, Ukrainian artists did not assimilate: they became active in the Ukrainian diaspora, created Ukrainian centers, and/or participated in the activities of numerous Ukrainian cultural institutions, including the U.A.A.A (Ukrainian Artist’s Association in U.S.A). The younger generation of Ukrainian emigrant artists, on the other hand, demonstrated a diversity of socio-cultural activities from the very beginning.