Arts & Entertainment

Honoring of Polish Artist Wojciech Seweryn To Take Place Sunday

Dignitaries, Polish-American community members will travel up Milwaukee Avenue for 12 p.m. ceremony. The mayor of Tarnow, Poland will present a plaque, and a street renaming will become official.

Niles and the Polish American community in Chicago will be the site of a significant tribute to the late Polish-born Chicago artist Wojciech Seweryn Sunday. By extension, the ceremonial events of the day will also honor the memory of all the Polish leaders killed in the 1940 Katyn massacre and the 2010 plane crash near the same site, which are deeply significant events for Poles worldwide.

Earlier:

The village of Niles released the following information:

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On Sunday, September 25, 2011, the Village of Niles and area Polish-Americans will honor the life and work of the late artist Wojciech Seweryn, sculptor and patriot, who designed and created the Katyn Massacre Monument, located at the entrance to St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles. Mr. Seweryn died in the April 2010 Smolensk (Russia) air crash which took the lives of 95 other passengers including the President of Poland. The travelers were en route to Katyn Forest to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the massacre of 22,000 Polish military and intellectual leaders by killers of the Soviet Secret Police.

Following a 9 am Mass at Chicago’s St. Hyacinth’s Basilica (3636 W. Wolfram Street, Chicago) there is a 12 pm ceremony at (6800 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Niles) where there will be an official unveiling of a street sign naming the cemetery section of Milwaukee Avenue in honor of Mr. Seweryn. This event will also include the presentation of a plaque by Mayor Richard Ścigała of Tarnow, Poland, recognizing the contributions of the Tarnow-born artist.

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Niles Trustee Chris Hanusiak said he expected the ceremony to last about 90 minutes. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be moved to , across the street (Milwaukee Avenue) from the Katyn monument at St. Adalbert's Cemetery.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here