The Michigan Opera Theatre will be producing the opera The Passenger during its fall 2015 opera season.  The Passenger was composed by Polish born composer, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, and the libretto is based on the Polish radio play Pasażerka z kabiny 45 (Passenger from Cabin Number 45) (1959) by Auschwitz survivor and novelist Zofia Posmysz.

The Passenger is a profoundly important experience on many levels.  The opera is the representation of events at the Nazi German camp at Auschwitz, as told by a Polish prisoner and eyewitness.  The opera portrays a battle of wills between a Polish prisoner and her SS guard.  It is also the touching love story of two Polish prisoners, Marta and Tadeusz. The opera is a tapestry of Polish themes, among them: a gift of flowers, a heroic deception, underground resistance and defiance, faith and a prayer for a noble death, remembrance as a summons to a moral accounting.  And the music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg is exquisitely expressive and moving.

Members of the Friends of Polish Art have met with Dr. David DiChiera, Founder and Artistic Director of the Michigan Opera Theatre, to discuss this production.  Dr. DiChiera has asked the Polish community to raise $100,000, a portion of the production costs.

Based on these discussions, Friends of Polish Art is excited to spread the word about this opera woven with Polish themes and to encourage all of Polonia to support the production both financially and with its attendance at the performances to be held on November 14, 18, 21 and 22.    We are asking for donations toward this worthy cause.  Friends of Polish Art has pledged $10,000 in support of The Passenger.

Please consider making a donation.   We realize there are many ways by which you can spend your money, but FPA encourages you to be generous toward this very worthwhile project.

• Donor Form (PDF)
• Michigan Opera Theater

The Friends of Polish Art were treated to a new genre of art to enjoy, the glorious functions and visuals of Polish Felt. Rayneld Rolak Johnson, Ph.D., presented about the history, fashion and textured felt as an artist’s medium. The strong turnout at St. Anselm’s Parish Hall heard that in Poland, felting has a long and rich history. Felt, both wool and rabbit, is an ancient functional product that was used for clothes, shoes, military accessories and craft-art.

Alina Klin, Ph.D. and Rayneld Rolak Johnson, Ph.D., both educators at Wayne State University presented at the recent Friends of Polish Art event in suburban Detroit.

Johnson, a longtime educator at Wayne State University in Fashion Design and Art, showcased and enriched about the history and development of Polish Highlander (górali) felt as both functional products and textured works of art. “Felt is no longer just folk art,” Johnson said.  She added, “Felt designs have evolved to be more than folk art. Felting techniques are recognized around the world in both craft and fine art.”

Dr. Johnson went on, “Felting was an ancient craft of creating a nonwoven fabric structure by matting wool, fur and hair fibers with heat, moisture and pressure. There is evidence of the expertise being practiced in ancient civilizations. More currently, a variety of felting techniques such as wet felting, needle felting and nuno felting have been implemented by designers and artists to create artistic original fabric structures for art to wear accessories and apparel.”

Her appreciation and vast pallet of art information generated many interesting questions including the construction techniques of millinery felt presentations. She also touched on her award winning textured textile piece, “Maui Sunset”, which was featured at the K-Mart headquarters in Troy, Michigan.

FPA board member and Instructor at WSU, Alina Klin, Ph.D., said, “Now we will need a tutorial on how to make Polish-American felt, this is so interesting and equally so culturally enriching.”

Klin added, “Felt making would be a fit for Tech Town at Wayne State in Detroit as an emerging entrepreneurially art pop-up. This is so appropriate for our International Studies Program at WSU, combining cultures and industry.”

A native daughter of Detroit, Johnson was recognized with her fashion prowess early and while in high school, she received from Governor William Milliken, the Michigan State Fair-Best of Show acknowledgment for the entire State Fair. This special blue ribbon award was for an apparel design and garment construction that she had entered. This was the only time in over 100 years of competition, at the Michigan State Fair, that a garment received this special designation. She was also an honored award winner at the national convention of the National Wool Council in San Francisco.

She started her Art and Textile instructing at the University of Detroit-Mercy.   Currently at WSU, her course specialties are the history, design, production and merchandising of apparel and textiles. She has focused research on the social, historical, economic and psychological factors influencing design and trend development and was selected as a research fellow by TC2 Textile Clothing Technology Corporation. Also, Johnson has published on learning theory and instructional design and is accomplished with cutting edge trends such as avatar fitting simulations.

A recent national project Johnson presented was the “The Influence of the Automobile on Fashion.” She has given international presentations related to apparel design and innovative teaching strategies, such as “The Art of Developing Creativity in Apparel Design Students.”

Of late, Johnson has been the costume consultant on some Michigan film productions. Most recently she was regional director of The Fashion Group International and is an active member of the Michigan Surface Design Association.

2014 Frank Filipek Scholarship Recipients – May 16

• Jonathan Chmura
• Tadeusz Conrado

2014 Literary Competition Winners – May 16

• 1st Place – Anthony Stachurski
• 2nd Place – Walerian Domanski
• 3rd Place – Henry J. Tyszka
• Honorable Mention – Leonard Zabawski

Poems & Short Stories of 2014 FPA Literary Competition Winners

• Clay, Kosciuszko & ’97 Commonalities For Website (PDF)
• L’Envie de la Vie For Website (PDF)
• Star of the Red Army For Website (PDF)
• Poland For Website (PDF)

2013 Literary Competition

• 1st Place – Henry Joseph Tyszka
• 2nd Place – Gary A. Scott
• 3rd Place – Monica Ziezulewicz Osentoski
• Honorable Mention – Thaddeus Konwiak

The Friends of Polish Art announce that applications are now being accepted for the 2015 Frank Filipek and the Lillian & Chester Mitchell Fine Arts Scholarship beginning January 15 until April 1, 2015.

Through the generosity of the late Frank Filipek of Battle Creek, five $1,500 scholarships are available for academic studies in such areas including but not limited to: law, medicine, architecture, engineering, sciences and the liberal arts.

This year, two $1,500 awards for the Lillian & Chester Mitchell Fine Arts Scholarship are available for students pursuing studies in painting, sculpture, music, drama, theatre, dance and other forms of creative expressions as well as history, literature, religion, philosophy and Polish Studies.

All applications and required documentation must be postmarked no later than March 25, 2015 and received no later than April 1, 2015. Previous recipients as well as non-Michigan residents are not eligible. Applicants must be of Polish Ancestry. Notifications of awards will occur on or before May 1, 2015.  Awards will be made payable to the individual and the institutions where recipient is enrolled. All scholarships will be presented at the Friends of Polish Art General Meeting scheduled for May 15, 2015. In the event that submissions do not qualify, or are unacceptable, the Friends of Polish Art Scholarship Committee reserves the right to not award a scholarship. For further information as to eligibility, and application, or membership in the Friends of Polish Art, please see: www.friendsofpolishart.org

Are you a closet writer?  Always wanted to see your name and creation in print?  Here’s your chance.  Friends of Polish Art (FPA) is proud to announce that it is sponsoring the 2014 Estelle Wachtel-Torres, MC Literary Competition formerly known as the FPA Short Story Competition.

The competition is open to all Michigan residents of Polish descent who are at least 18 years old.  Participants may submit up to two entries on any subject they wish.  Entries may be short stories, poems, or essays limited to 5000 words and must be the original work of the author that has never been published or won an award in any other competition.  The entry fee is $15.00 per person.  Deadline for entries is April 26, 2014. Winners will be notified by May 10, 2014 and announced at the annual FPA General Membership Meeting on May 16, 2014.

This year a new prize category of Best Polish Theme has been established along with renaming the First Prize Winner the Estelle Wachtel-Torres, MD Grand Prize Winner.  Besides monetary prizes for the winners,  excerpts of may be published in the Friends of Polish Art Newsletter and/or be put online at the Friends of Polish Art website.

• Entry forms and rules

2013 Youth Art Competition Winners – April 14

• 1st Place – Alex Smith
• 2nd Place – Evan Rybski
• 3rd Place – Annie O’Neil
• Best Polish Theme – Jenna Kozak
• Polish Mission Award – Amaya Farrell
• Honorable Mention – Ian Brockman
• Honorable Mention – Laurel Krause
• Honorable Mention – Andrew Sakalian
• Honorable Mention – Katherine Sanocki
• Honorable Mention – Olivia Schuler
• Honorable Mention – Alex Zhang

2013 Frank Filipek Scholarship Recipients – May 17

• Paul Kuczynski
• Alexandra Zelek
• Stephanie Kwiecien
• Jillian Rhind
• Victoria Beata Chochla

2013 Lillian and Chester Mitchell Fine Arts Scholarship Recipients – May 17

• Stephanie Cieslak
• Beata Sas

2013 Literary Competition Winners – May 17

• 1st Place – Henry Joseph Tyszka
• 2nd Place – Gary A. Scott
• 3rd Place – Monica Ziezulewicz Osentoski
• Honorable Mention – Thaddeus Konwiak

2013 Szopka Competition Winners – Nov. 24

• 1st Prize – Alena Zabaski
• 2nd Prize – Polish American Congress/Michigan Division
• 3rd Prize – Bill, Linda & daughter Clara Hughes