Museum of Art

* * UPDATE: Monday, March 11 – Both sessions are now sold out. Thank you all for your interest! * *

Friday, March 15th at the Benjamin Mays Center
Morning Session 10:00 AM
Afternoon Session 1:30 PM

The Bates College Museum of Art will host two Ukrainian egg decorating workshops with Lesia Sochor on Friday, March 15th, at the Benjamin Mays Center. There will be two sessions, one at 10:00 AM and the other at 1:30 PM.

The workshop is free for Bates students and $10 per person for other community members. Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult.

Instructor Lesia Sochor is an artist of Ukrainian descent who lives in Brooks, Maine. She learned the ancient spring tradition of decorating Pysanky from her mother and has shared this craft in numerous workshops throughout the state.

The Pysanka, a decorated egg, was common among Slavic peoples as far back as 5,000 B.C. and was deeply important in spring rituals, symbolizing nature’s rebirth. When decorating eggs in the Ukrainian style, designs are drawn on the egg with melted beeswax, which flows from a tool called a Kystka. The eggs are then dipped in a series of dyes and the final pattern is revealed when the wax is removed.