A PRACTICAL example of cultural exchange between the US and Slovakia is an exhibition in the residence of US Ambassador to Slovakia Theodore Sedgwick that was opened on September 27. The exhibition was born out of cooperation with three reputable Cleveland cultural institutions and the US State Department’s ART in Embassies scheme.
Sedgwick stressed at the ceremonial opening of the exhibition, as quoted by the TASR newswire, the special importance Cleveland has had in the history of Slovak-American ties, since Slovaks and Czechs started writing the joint history of independent Czechoslovakia there in 1915. He also pointed out that, along with Pittsburgh and Chicago, the city has one of the biggest Slovak communities in the United States.
Sedgwick added that he had a personal link to the exhibition, which includes landscapes as well as portraits, as he himself grew up in Cleveland. The exhibited works include a portrait of Jeptha H. Wade I, who was the ambassador’s direct ancestor on his mother’s side and an important personality. It is no coincidence that Bratislava and Cleveland are currently partner cities.
3. Oct 2011 at 0:00 | Compiled by Spectator staff