Over the past decade, The RACH-C Children’s Festival of Russian Culture has creatively evolved. It started in Fort Tryon Park with children’s folk ensembles on a movable stage, and tents, Russian foods, field games and more. Children’s Folk Ensembles came from the New York area, other states and Russian republics. Eventually we moved them inside to the stages of Symphony Space, NYU Skirball Center and the Consulate General of Russia. We even had it with a Manhattan Street Fair.
For this, our Jubilee year it seemed as if we would have it in that many places all at once and we included an art contest featuring paintings with the theme “My Space” to honor the 55th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first flight into space and, this 2016 Festival was celebrated as part of Russian American History Month.
The art contest produced First, second and third place winners selected from 3 age groups by a Jury of working artists. The submissions of 111 children from 10 cities of Russia and the USA were exhibited at five locations.
In Albany their paintings were exhibited in the great concourse where a Russian group performed in honor of the official passage of the Russian American History Month Resolution by both the New York State Senate and Assembly.
At the UN, the paintings were exhibited in the lobby of two floors of the Secretariat Building
The Consulate General of Russia in New York was the site of an exhibit at which the winners were already identified with red, gold and plain ribbons. During the opening of Russian American History Month in NYC, guests got to listen and watch the Children’s Ensemble Golden Rooster who sang songs dedicated to the 55th anniversary of the first manned flight in space, and later reviewed an art exhibit of the winners of the contest.
Some of the contest entries were exhibited at St Nickolas Cathedral in NY which encouraged the Church Sunday school to initiate a mini painting contest and a concert prepared by the children.
The Russian Language School “Bright Minds” in Manhattan entered their own special visual art for the exhibit and mounted a beautiful exhibit of the paintings submitted in the competition. The school also produced a costume performance dedicated to the concept of space exploration.
Sunflower Russian Culture School in Long Island also hosted a special event for parents which featured the exhibit of paintings and a concert by the children.