Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art

The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) is a modern art museum located in Chicago, Illinois, in the heart of the city's Ukrainian Village neighborhood. Founded in 1971, it serves the Chicago area with an ongoing program of cultural exhibitions, literary events, film screenings, and music recitals. The museum is a core member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance, a consortium of 25 ethnic museums and cultural centers in the city, and operates as a not-for-profit organization.

UIMA was established in 1971 by four founders: Dr. Achilles Chreptowsky, Vera Chereptowsky, Konstantin Milonadis, and Mychajlo Urban. From its inception, the institute was situated in Ukrainian Village, a neighborhood that remains home to an ethnically diverse population and offers a wide variety of cultural events. The museum has maintained an active exhibition schedule, hosting six to seven major exhibits annually in its main gallery. In 2010, the museum hosted a career retrospective of Gladys Nilsson, a noted member of the "Hairy Who" art group. In 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UIMA mounted an interactive exhibition titled "Protest Art Call for Participation," inviting the public to share responses to the war through drawings, writings, and poetry, accompanied by protest-themed works from the permanent collection.

The institute maintains one of the largest collections of Ukrainian-American abstract and minimalist works dating from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The permanent collection includes work by Chicago artists as well as sculptors and painters of Ukrainian descent. The collection spans multiple media and generations, reflecting both the Ukrainian diaspora experience and broader developments in modern and contemporary art. Two side galleries house this permanent collection, while the main gallery is reserved for rotating exhibitions.

The permanent collection includes works by many renowned artists. Among the Ukrainian and Ukrainian-descended artists represented are Alexander Archipenko, Alexis Gritchenko, Mychajlo Andreenko, Jerzy Nowosielski, Emma Andiewska, Jacques Hnizdovsky, Aka Pereyma, Slava Gerulak, Arcadia Olenska-Petryshyn, Christina Saj, William Kurelek, Yevgeniy Prokopov, Volodymyr Makarenko, Vadym Meller, and Jurij Solovij. The collection also includes works by Anton Kandinsky, whose protest-themed pieces were featured in the 2022 exhibition. International and American artists in the collection include Patrick Caulfield, Elisabeth Frink, Mary Fedden, Robyn Denny, Richard Hunt, Thomas Kapsalis, and Michiko Itatani. The 2022 protest exhibition also highlighted works by Jurij Solovij alongside Kandinsky.

The museum is located in the heart of Chicago's Ukrainian Village, a neighborhood that has historically served as a center for Ukrainian-American life and culture. The main gallery occupies 2,100 square feet (200 m²), within which six to seven major exhibits are presented each year. Two side galleries are dedicated to housing the permanent collection. The immediate surrounding neighborhood is characterized by its ethnic diversity and active cultural programming.

The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art operates as a not-for-profit organization with its official website at http://www.uima-chicago.org/. Its programming encompasses exhibitions, concerts, lectures, and multidisciplinary events. The institute's role within the Chicago Cultural Alliance underscores its function as a significant ethnic cultural institution within the city's broader museum ecosystem. The museum continues to serve both the Ukrainian-American community and the wider Chicago public through its exhibitions and cultural programs.