The purpose of this MySpace page is to raise the national and international awareness level for the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center and to promote events and exhibits as they occur. The museum is growing at an exponential rate and with a new permanent home on the horizon, we believe it is important to our future to create this awareness.
About the HMCC
The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center (HMCC) is a national museum and the only one of its kind in the United States. The Museum was founded as a not-for-profit 501c (3) institution in 1983 by a group of friends who wanted to preserve the story of Greek immigration to the United States. The Museum first opened to the public in 1992, and has moved twice before coming to its final temporary home at 801 W. Adams Street, on the fourth floor of the Greek Islands building in the heart of Chicago's Greektown.
Since opening its doors, HMCC has become a presence in the city to the extent that it has been designated by Mayor Richard M. Daley as the anchor of the Greektown Redevelopment Project, which is transforming the Halsted Street area into a world-class ethnic neighborhood. The Museums membership base spans 27 states and encompasses individuals and families from across the entire United States.
The Museum and bookstore are open from 10am-4pm Tuesday through Friday, 11am-4pm on Saturdays, and 1pm-5pm on Sundays. Admission is free for members, or a $5 donation for adults. Please contact the museum for info on group tours and special programs.
For more information about the museum, location, memberships, and contacts, visit our official website at http://www.hellenicmuseum.orgCurrent Exhibits
Cyprus: The Golden Green Leaf in the Wine Dark Sea (Artifacts from the Hellenic Museum's Cypriot collection, including antiquities) This is phase 1 of the exhibition. Phase 2 will open in April
New Oral History Module (Under Construction)
Sacred Art (Opens March 20, 2008)Past Exhibits
Photos from Nourishing Culture (a story of Greeks in the food business in Chicago) (Closed Jan. 31, 2008)
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Photos from "Road to Rembetika" (closed 1/19/07):
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Photos from "Penelopeia" (Closed 6/16/06):Mission
To be the nations foremost center of Hellenic history, culture and the arts, where the public can explore the legacy of the Greek immigrant experience in America and examine the influence of Hellenic culture and people from antiquity to the present.
The Hellenic Museum preserves Greek culture and traditions through its collections, cultural events, recorded oral and visual histories of the Greek immigrant experience and presents the stories of Greeks in America and throughout the world.
The Hellenic Museum actively engages a broad and diverse audience through innovative exhibitions, educational outreach, original public programming, and by serving as an informational resource. It collaborates with organizations and institutions to foster a greater appreciation of different cultures and shared human experiences.
For Generations - Our New Home
The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center has embarked on a capital campaign, for generations, to build a permanent 40,000 square foot home on the corner of Halsted and Van Buren Streets in Greektown.
Building a free standing institution has long been a goal of the founders of the Museum and its Board of Directors. In 2000, the United Hellenic American Congress, under the leadership of Andrew A. Athens was instrumental in helping secure the property at 333 S. Halsted Street for the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center.
But it was the active interest of Mayor Daley that transformed plans to reality when his administration approved the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center Redevelopment Agreement. That one action made the city the museums partner in fulfilling the promise that the Greek community will always be a progressive colorful stone in the ethnic mosaic called Chicago.
While originally envisioned as a place where the stories and artifacts of Greek immigration to the United States would be collected, preserved and poignantly displayed for generations, the Hellenic Museum has grown into a vibrant institution with a permanent collection of over 6,000 objects, including Cypriot antiquities, photographs, century old books, 18th and 19th century textiles, traditional folk costumes, artifacts relating to Greek and Greek American life, and one of the largest collections of Greek record albums in America.
Once located in its permanent home, HMCC will have multiple galleries for permanent and rotating exhibitions, a library and technology center, an auditorium, a childrens center, classrooms, a gift store, and a major cultural center.
The Museum will stand as a symbol of the vital Greek community in the United States and will give form to the ideas, beliefs, and achievements of the culture that shaped the art, literature, philosophy, and politics of Western civilization. The Museum is planned to be completed in 2008.
Support
The Museum is supported by its generous members and community supporters through financial donations and memberships. We currently have members in 27 states and would like all Hellenes and Philhellenes to come together to support our cause. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about membership or volunteer opportunities.
The museum is always looking to expand its collections for exhibition and archival purposes. Items sought include: photographs of family members as well as organizations, business and trade images, phonograph records, icons, embroideries, books in Greek and English, household items, correspondence and military items. Many of these articles are being discarded as they are passed on from generation to generation. Please remember the museum as a place that aims to perpetuate the Greek heritage and as a place where these items will be stored and displayed. Please contact me or our curator if you wish to donate any items to the museum.