PRESS RELEASE

March 22, 2005

UO art museum to celebrate blessing of new Russian icon gallery
'Music for Icons' to be presented by Russian Orthodox choir members

EUGENE-Members of the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Choir will travel from Portland to Eugene to sing for the blessing ceremony of the new McKenzie Gallery for Russian icons at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, at the University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 1430 Johnson Lane.

A traditional blessing by St. Nicholas pastor Father George Gray will be followed with a performance by the choir members. As with all of the art museum's Wednesday "MusEvening!" programs, the blessing ceremony is open to the public with pay-as-you wish admission.

"This ceremony will allow visitors to experience these works of art in a broader context in terms of where they came from, who created them and how they were originally displayed," explains Lisa Abia-Smith, the museum's education director. "Providing viewers with this background and perspective is an important part of the museum's mission."

The new gallery offers visitors an opportunity to view works from the art museum's respected collection of Russian icons in an inaugural exhibition titled, "Holy Icons of Russia."

Dean McKenzie, curator of the exhibition and professor emeritus in the UO Department of Art History, explains that in the Orthodox Christian world, the term "icon" refers to "a sacred image depicting Christ or some other Christian saint." According to McKenzie, the icons are not only used in the Orthodox Church service, but also are displayed prominently in the homes of church members.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art reopened in January 2005 after a major renovation and expansion project which nearly doubled the size of the building. The McKenzie Gallery is one of the several new spaces created by the project.

Contact: Lisa Abia-Smith, (541) 346-0966, abia@uoregon.edu

Source: Katie Sproles, (541) 346-0942, ksproles@uoregon.edu

Link: http://jsma.uoregon.edu

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