St Marys High School - Salute Yearbook (New Baltimore, MI)

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if-v Flight to Egypt S. M. Fabia, l7oliAlc P in ting There is validity for the phrase Polish-American Painting: not in the sense that there exists a spe- cial school or technique, but in so far as there ara- Americans of Polish stock, born in the United States, who have won artistic distinction. Perhaps the most promising Polish-American artist is New York-born Pulitzer prize winner Sig- mund Kozlow iliozlowskib. whose impressionist land- scapes, The Country Road and The Covered Bridge have won warm praise. Other American- born painters of Polish ancestry are: The securely established Makielski brothers - Leo, sensitive por- traitist, and Bronislav, talented landscapist whose Clouds and Cypresses are in the Detroit Institute of Artg the robustly original Jozef Bakos whose Santa Fe Canyon reposes in the Whitney Museum: the pleasingly unassuming Stanley Twardowicz whose Shoemaker W6jcik promises much. Rudolf Pen. Michael Reducki, Vetold Pasternacki. Boleslav Ja- blecki, Stefan Bielaski, Peter Dubaniewicz, Edmund Lewandowski and Antoni Hunter complete this talent- ed group. Less known but equally interesting are the paint- ings of Polish-American women. Delicately spiritual- ized is The Flight to Egypt by the recently de- ceased student of Jan Styka, Sister Mary Fabia, Feli- cian. The expressive portraits - and especially that of Pius XII - by Sister Mary Stanisia. S. S. N. D.. and the poetic still-life studies of Chic-ago's Jadwigzx Krawiec also exercise a real appeaL Among Polish-born but American-bred artists, Theodore Roszak, winner of seven art institute scholarships, and Chicago's Walter Krawiec are most versatile Warsaw-born, Boston-bred Janina Federkic- wicz ranks first among the women. Perhaps the most significant development among Polish-American painters today is that expressed by Sigmund Kozlow: As an American with a Polish background, I would like to show the beauty of Polish folk art to the people of America . Prof. W. Pawlowski Shoemaker Wojcik L. Makielski S. J. Twardowicz , W f n ffm- ilu ouufi Clouds Covered Bridge Santa Fe Canyon B. Makielski S. Kozlow J. Bakos

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lmerican Poetry American born or bred poets of Polish parentage writing in English are few in number. Yet though their ranks be small, their contributions command attention. They bring with them a new interest and a fresh energizing spirit into American literature, of which they are a real though a small part. Until the end of World War I, English poetry written by Polish Americans consisted mainly of translations from the Polish poets done by refugees like J. Podbielski and P. Sobolewski, the latter in 1881 editing THE POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND. Several original poems, nostalgic or defiant in senti- ment, came from the pens of the exiles, A. Jaku- bowski and J. Allen, and from Chicago's prolific Teo- lila, Samolinska who, however, wrote chiefly in Polish. In the 1920's appeared the first collection of origi- nal English poems authored by a youthful Polish- American. DEAF WALLS by Philadelphia-born Ed- mund Kowalewski was a work of unusual promise, auguring much for the youthful and talented poet, from whom unfortunately no more has been heard. In 1934 appeared AGAINST DEATH IN SPRING by Alan Edward Symanski. Born in Grand Rapids, Symanski sang with Slavic poignancy of Krakow's ancient glamour, of the Black Madonna and the Warsaw Beggar, of Black Bread and the Immigrant. He spoke also of Michigan autumn, the Tennis Match and the Fourth Province. In 1934 the Chicago Polish Arts Club published a. bilingual volume of verse containing Polish and English selections entitled ANTOLOGIA POEZJI POLSKO-AMERYKANSKIEJ. The latter, drawn largely from magazines and newspapers, include ori- ginal poems by Bertha Czosnek, Irene Jaworski, Mira Kosicka, Theodora Pawelski and Hedwig Baran. Other magazine contributors since are: Joseph Cherwinski, Anthony Misiukiewicz, Mary Dunaj, Fe- licia Cetkowski and Edith Piotrowski. Perhaps the most important in this group is Iowan Raymond Kre- senski, author of numerous religious verses and of the volume, EMMAUS. Minnesota-bred Victora Janda with her two vol- umes of original poems - WALLS OF THE SPACE 119457 and STAR HUNGER 119437 - is today per- haps the leading Polish-American poet. In a style reminiscent of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Janda echocs Symanski's nostalgic cry for Polan'd's lore of legend. history, song , but more often she sings of her Minne- sota countryside. Interesting too is her use of ang- licized Polish words like Shelest for their onomoto- poeic value. Also in 1945, the youthful Polish-American Klub Polski at Columbia University published its second anthology of verse and prose translated from Polish. THE WAYSIDE WILLOW, especially the verse trans- lations by Theodore Plucinski, George Szymanski, Filomena Dabal, Janet Narolska, Antoinette Slowin- ska, Charlotte Saikowska and the Bielawski sisters, is a welcome companion to THE POLISH LAND is- sued in 1943. In summary, perhaps the main characteristic of this Polonian contribution to American poetry is its bicultural quality. The poetry on the one hand re- flects the restless American environment in which the poets move, and on the other shows a keen aware- ness of the authors' share in their Polish heritage. Perhaps in the near future a poet will also appear to sing the rich and varied lore locked in the heavy chests of the POLONIA AMERYKANSKA itself. gywin. Wgdzagf

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lmerican Ilia ic More than painting, music is fast becoming the leading artistic preoccupation of Americans of Polish descent, born or bred in the United States, awakening to the creative possibilities of their European herit- agc. Much credit for this must go to the Chicago Polish Arts Club, which has three decades of splendid cultural achievement in the fine arts behind it. Among Polish-American pianists 15-year old Sylvia. Zaremba of Springfield, Mass. reveals extraordinary talents which have won critical acclaim in New York and Boston. Another concert favorite is prodigiouslv versatile 21-year old California-born Ruth Slenczyn- ska. The latest and youngest prodigy is a 12-year old Chicagoan. Zenon Tuczynski. Established pianists of note are: the brilliantly sensitive Chicago-born Thaddeus Kozuch: the versa- tile poetic New Yorker. William Koprowskig Raymond Dyczkowski of the Buffalo Philharmonic: and Alex- ander Brachocki a pupil of Paderewski. Concert violinists of 'distiction include: Antoinette Zebrowska acclaimed as the world's best woman violinist and finest interpreter of W'ienia.wskig Stephen Hero of the Dayton Symphony Orchestra: and Anthony Wanat of Maryland. Leading vocalists are: Virginia 1Wallacel Wleklin- ska of concert and radio fame: Paula. Zwane and Harriette Konopka sopranos: Tadeusz Sztuka concert tenor: radio singers Caroline Urbanek and Genia Zielinska: and Ann Kuzak of the New York Opera Co. Of special interest is Rev. Henry Waraksa's direc- tion of the SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary Schola Cantorum in the annual N. B. C. broadcast of Polish Kolendy. Also active director-composers are the Feli- cian Sisters M. Bonaventura. M. Caecilia, and M. Elzearia. , !A'ltllIl!PI' llflglffllfllf L SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary's l'Vitkowski's Silver Bell Schola Cantorum Virginia fWallace9 Wleklinska Thaddeus Kozuch Rev. Henry Waraksa .5 William Koprowski Sylvia Zaremba