The New Russia Cultural Center, a non-profit organization, was formed exclusively for educational purpose under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The New Russia Cultural Center is striving to expand the public's understanding and appreciation of Russian folk arts, and Russian-American history and culture in the United States.
The Cultural Center at Albany stands to stimulate public interest in Russian culture.
The Center is committed to extend the boundaries of the two countries through educational and cultural programs, among these are the personal development of children, youth, and adults through cultural education, providing resources that enhance cross-cultural understanding through educational activities, and exposure to Russian folk arts.
The New Russia Cultural Center is organized by three major functions. These functions include governance, administration and programs.
Governance - The governance function is carried out by Board of Directors. The Board is in charge and directly accountable for the overall direction and policies of the organization to ensure that the organization's mission is fulfilled. This power is given to the board by the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws.
Administration - The Board intends to implement its operations using a variety of board committees. This includes the Executive Committee which is made up of officers who make policy decisions between board meetings. The Executive Director is directly accountable for the work of the staff and supports the work of the board committees.
Programs - The Center accomplishes its mission through a variety of educational programs provided to school students, teachers and the general public. Our educational programs increase the depth and breadth of the knowledge to the general public in traditional Russian arts, culture and history. Through classes, exhibitions, workshops and events, the Center stimulates an enthusiasm for learning Russian folk art with programs that are educationally inspiring, creatively stimulating and cross-culturally oriented.
Tatiana Lichtenwalter, President
Irina Shteynvurtsel, Vice-President
Lena Lake, Treasurer
Olga Zvezdina, Secretary
Boris Maslennikov, member
Vera Dominijanni, member
Alison Hilton is Distinguished Professor of Art History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. She specializes in Russian Folk Art, and her publications include: "Russian Folk Art and Popular Art," "Self Expression in a Communal Tradition: Folk Artists of Northern Russia," "Russian Folk Art and the Modernist Cultural Renaissance," "Folk Art and the Peasant Village," "The Thread of Tradition," "Russian Folk Art: Tradition, Invention and National Culture," and "The Peasant Village and the World of Russian Folk Art".
Dr. Sarah Burke is Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. Her specialties are Russian art and literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her publications include articles on Russian Folk art.
Maria Holl is Assistant Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. She specializes in Russian folklore (narrative genres such as magic tales and epic songs, folk belief, etc.)
John Potter is Academic Librarian. He has interest in Russian Folk Art. He has a Russian History Blog web site as a daily Internet tour of Russian History and Culture.
Tatiana Lichtenwalter was born and grew up in Russia. She earned a Master of Science in Physics from Ural State University, Russia. Her professional experience includes 12 years of teaching as well as business experience. In 1986 she established and ran for six years an Information Technology Youth Center in Moscow.
Mrs. Lichtenwalter lived in the United States since 1992. Since then she has strived to make a positive contribution to her adopted country, utilizing her cultural background. She earned a Master of Business Administration from Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY in 1999. Mrs. Lichtenwalter gained marketing experience in the hospitality industry holding Sales and Marketing Director positions in the hotels in Lake Placid, NY.
She had a dream to establish the New Russia Cultural Center for more then ten years. Mrs. Lichtenwalter believes that her organization vision, determination, ability to effectively promote a business, her leadership qualities along with other management skills, educational and cultural background will allow her to make New Russia Cultural Center a successful non-profit organization.