Seed Journeys Session 5
From Beets to Borscht:
Exploring Polish, Ukrainian, Slavic & Eastern European Jewish Culture
Saturday, September 14, 2024
10:30am – 3:30pm (Drop-in-at-will)
Slate Valley Museum
17 Water Street, Granville, New York
Tel. 518-642-1417
Event is FREE with museum admission:
$5 Adults; $3 Seniors; Free for Quarry Workers & Children under 12
An Eastern European soup is the inspiration behind the fifth monthly Seed Journeys session at the Slate Valley Museum – “From Beets to Borscht: Exploring Polish, Ukrainian, Slavic & Eastern European Jewish Culture.”
Artist-in-residence Serena Kovalosky will share the wild origin of beets and the surprising ingredients in the original borscht soup. The brief talk will explore variations of borscht from Slovak and Eastern European Jewish cultures as referenced in the museum’s immigration exhibit, “The Dream and the Reality,” in addition to its roots in Polish and Ukrainian cuisine.
Participants will string dried beets on beading wire; the strands that they create will become part of a community art installation, entitled “Seed Journeys,” that will explore historical links of certain fruits and vegetables with Slate Valley immigrants from the 1840s to the present.
The conversation and activity will be offered throughout the day. Drop in anytime from 10:30am – 3:30pm and stay as long as you want. BYO lunch to enjoy on the museum grounds if you wish. Tea & coffee will be available throughout the day.
The Slate Valley is renowned for its variety of colored slate quarried in the region. Participants will be invited to string tiny glass seed beads in the colors of Slate Valley slate as an additional component to the installation.
Young children and those who wish to work on a smaller project with larger beads will have the option to create Friendship Bracelets in the Slate Valley slate colors.
The “Seed Journeys” installation is part of Serena Kovalosky’s artist residency project, “Moving Mountains: The Mustard Seed Project” at the Slate Valley Museum. The meticulous, six-month journey of placing tiny mustard seeds from around the world, one by one, on the branches of a foraged mustard “tree” is a contemplative exercise that explores the symbolism of the mustard seed for restoring faith in our ability as individuals and communities to achieve humanity’s dream of peaceful coexistence, one small step (seed) at a time.
Kovalosky’s mustard “tree” sculpture and the community-created “Seed Journeys” installation will be exhibited at the museum’s Slate Valley Holiday Festival on December 6 and throughout the month of December. The 2024 theme is “Peace on Earth.”
Serena Kovalosky is a 2024 recipient of a Community Arts, Individual Artist grant for “Moving Mountains: The Mustard Seed Project.” This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, administered by the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council.
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Serena Kovalosky 