Eastern Christian collection on display

New Haven (WTNH) - A remarkable exhibit based around a local couple's own artwork and longtime collecting is on display at Southern Connecticut State University, but there's only a few days left to see it.

Yvonne Shia Klancko and Robert Klancko of Woodbridge joined us this morning, and among other things in their collection, they brought hand-painted "pysanky" eggs.

The exhibit, called "ICE: Icons, Crosses and Eggs: The Soul and Culture of the Eastern Christian Faith," has been on display at SCSU this spring and ends June 30. It includes a number of items from the Yvonne Shia Klancko Collection, such as artifacts and imagery from more than a dozen countries and cultures, including Ethiopia, Lebanon, Romania, Slovakia, Russia and Greece. The Klanckos have been collecting these artifacts for more than 38 years.

The collection, which now includes more than 1,000 eggs, some 250 crosses and several hundred icons and lacquer works, is incredibly extensive. The ICE exhibit, representing only a fraction of their collection, is at the SCSU Multicultural Center gallery, on the second floor of the Adanti Student Center.

Yvonne paints eggs herself using the wax batik egg-dying technique of pysanky.

The Klanckos both have personal heritages that reach into this rich tradition: Yvonne comes from Middle Eastern lineage, and Robert, who trained for a time to be an Orthodox priest, has a Russian background.

The "Icons, Crosses, and Eggs: The Soul and Culture of the Eastern Christian Faith" will be at SCSU until June 30, and can be viewed Monday thru Friday from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Admission is free!

Directions: http://www.southernct.edu/aboutscsu/map/
Contact Information: Multicultural Center, (203) 392-5888