Peter Doroshenko Appointed Director of Ukrainian Museum in New York, Meets First Lady

Peter Doroshenko has been named the new director of the Ukrainian Museum in New York. A Chicago native with Ukrainian immigrant roots, Doroshenko previously led the Dallas Contemporary for 11 years until early this year. He was also the founding president and artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv and served as commissioner for Ukraine's Venice Biennale pavilions in 2007, 2009, and 2017. During the most recent Biennale, he curated a collateral exhibition showcasing Ukrainian artists amid the challenges posed by Russia's invasion. One of his initial meetings was with Olena Zelenska, Ukraine's First Lady, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly to promote a fundraising initiative for over 500 damaged heritage sites. The first site to be restored will be the Hryhoriy Skovoroda Literary Memorial Museum, which was destroyed by Russian shelling in May 2022. Zelenska remarked, "This is a war against our identity... this war has a cultural front as well." The museum’s collection includes both folk and modern Ukrainian art, along with items reflecting the Ukrainian immigration experience to the US.