In the Media

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​Russia’s invasion aims to erase Ukrainian cultural identity
​Jan. 4, 2024 

As Ukrainians fight for their country’s survival amid Russia’s ongoing invasion, defending Ukraine’s culture has never been more important. With Russia openly seeking to extinguish Ukrainian statehood and erase Ukrainian identity, safeguarding Ukrainian culture should be recognized as a national priority. This could be highlighted in Ukraine’s National Recovery Plan at both the national and local levels, reflecting the key role cultural identity has played in sustaining the country during the barely conceivable horrors of the invasion unleashed almost two years ago by Vladimir Putin.

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Foundation to Preserve Ukraine's Sacral Arts Welcomes Ukraine's Monuments officers to the U.S.
​Dec. 8, 2023

​The Foundation to Preserve Ukraine's Sacral Arts(FTPUSA) together with the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI) welcomed Ukraine's first cohort of Monuments Officers at a reception held at Ukraine House in Washington, DC, on August 22. Over 100 guests attended the event, including Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova, Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large Dr. Richard Kurin, and UNWLA Branch 78 President lrena
Chalupa. UNWIA members who are active supporters of the Foundation were also in attendance.

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Rescuing Art in Ukraine with Foam, Crates and Cries for Help
Aug. 8, 2022

A month after the Russian army invaded Ukraine, the photographer Roman Metelskiy stood on the platform of this western city’s domed Art Nouveau railway station, watching trains full of women and children evacuating from the east. But he was waiting for a carriage from the other direction. This one, from the west, was full of Bubble Wrap.

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A woman’s mission to preserve Ukrainian churches
April 9, 2019

A Ukrainian-American woman learned through a series of coincidences that her relatives – a probably uniquely prolific father and son team of architects – designed and built some 360 Ukrainian churches in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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She has started a foundation that is working to restore and preserve the churches, many of which have been battered by war, communist-era neglect and the elements.

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U.S.-based foundation strives to preserve Ukraine’s spiritual past
Feb. 9, 2018

The Foundation to Preserve Ukraine’s Sacral Arts restored the “gonty” (wooden shingles) on a 17th century church in Staryi Yar, Lviv Oblast. WASHINGTON – As Kyiv Press Bureau correspondent of The Ukrainian Weekly, Khristina Lew was in the newspaper’s office in 1995 when she received a call from her parents in Virginia.

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Press Releases

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The Foundation to Preserve Ukraine’s Sacral Arts, ICOMOS and World Monuments Fund deliver fire extinguishers to protect Ukraine’s wooden churches
July 11, 2022 

​The Foundation to Preserve Ukraine’s Sacral Arts and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), in partnership with World Monuments Fund (WMF), delivered 440 water-mist fire extinguishers for the protection of historic wooden churches, or tserkvas, in war-ravaged Ukraine. Ukraine is home to more than 2,500 wooden churches, the largest number in the world. Eight of the historic wooden churches are included on the UNESCO World Heritage List of Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine. 

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