The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center (HMCC) PDF Print E-mail
The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center (HMCC)NEA! The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center (HMCC) was founded in 1983 to serve Greek Americans, and the larger community of diverse ethnic cultures, with programs that promote understanding of and appreciation for the rich cultural traditions of ancient and contemporary Greece. With the strong support of the Chicago area community of approximately 350,000 Greek Americans, the HMCC has developed innovative education programs that reflect the high value Greek culture places on history, arts and culture, and, in 1992, opened the doors of its first museum facility. In July of 2004, the Museum relocated to its current location in the heart of Greektown at 801 West Adams Street in Chicago.
 
Today, the HMCC’s mission is to be the nation’s 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.
 
Since 1992, the HMCC has grown dramatically. The organization commissioned the design of a new facility, and in the fall of 2005, began demolition on the site of the new Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center which will be built as the cornerstone to Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daly’s Greektown Redevelopment plan. The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center will be a 40,000 square foot multi-generational building that embraces and synthesizes the past, present and future of the Greek - American community. With a form inspired by the meander, also referred to as the Greek Key - a significant symbol in ancient Greece which represented unity and infinity- the building form shall repeatedly flow from east to west and west to east as it rises. This movement echoes the immigrant experience that we as a people share, as we progress as members of society here in America while continually seeking inspiration from our historic past in Greece.
 
The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center will be expressed in a modern, state of the art design, much as our ancestors did in the civic buildings of their day. The building will have a dynamic glass exterior which will accentuate the existing Greektown community and shine as a beacon within the city. The Museum will house permanent and temporary exhibit spaces, a library, performance theater, educational center and administrative offices, the Museum will also serve as the cultural heart of the Greek- American community. It will create both a place for learning and interaction; it will also be a lens for viewing the ever changing context of Chicago and beyond. Demetrios Stavrianos is the architect / designer of The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center. He is a Principal with RTKL, Chicago.

This past year, the HMCC served aver 4,000 students in grades 3-12 through organized tours and complementary hands-on activities. Students will learn through presentations and interactive activities about Ancient Greek Influences in Modern Day Society; The Eruption of Thera: Opening the Door to Myth; and Alexander the Great and the Silk Road; and Persephone and the Pomegranate; and The Greek Immigrant Experience.
 
The range and quality of the HMCC Outreach and Education programs are made possible by extensive organizational collaborations, including creative partnerships with institutions like Jane Addams Hull House Museum, Chicago Children’s Museum, the Athens Children’s Museum and the Dora Stratou Foundation. Institutions like the Field Museum of Natural History, the School of the Art Institute, and Columbia College have provided guest curators for the HMCC exhibitions, and participating scholars from the University of Chicago, DePaul University, Case Western Reserve University and Haverford College have enabled HMCC to present thoughtful programs of excellent quality.
 
In addition to the innovative, docent-lead tours, the HMCC has created a state of the art Oral History Center, Approximately 450,000 Greeks came to America between 1890 and 1920 as part of the flood of Eastern European immigrants with a majority of these early immigrants were single young men who came from the southern peninsula of Greece known as the Peloponnese. Today, Greek Americans have a presence throughout the entire United States.
 
The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center saw the necessity of capturing these important stories, and the Oral History Project was created. Through the process of interviewing and recording the life stories of individuals of Greek descent, the Museum is able to preserve the history of the Greek immigrant experience in America. On October 12, 2007, the HMCC unveiled the new Frank S. Kamberos Oral History Center providing a permanent home for the over 100 life stories that have been recorded and deposited in the archives of the HMCC’s Oral History Project.

The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center was the first institution dedicated to displaying and celebrating the cultural contributions of the Greek and Greek-American communities in uniquely original settings. A place where past achievements are preserved and honored, and where current contributions are interpreted and shared, the HMCC serves as a model for discovering the cultural distinctions and commonalities of all ethnic communities.
 
For the past two decades, the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center has created a vibrant and comprehensive picture of Greece’s art, history, and Greek communities in the United States. From ancient Greek civilizations to contemporary artistic movements, the Museum has a longstanding history of producing fascinating original exhibitions. The exhibitions presented over the years have interpreted Hellenic history and culture in order to preserve knowledge, while concurrently stimulating appreciation of Greek culture. The HMCC continually strives to carefully integrate historic Hellenic content in a universal context relevant to our mission.

The MMCC offers exhibitions throughout the year in two main galleries at the Museum. The 2008 exhibition schedule was: Sacred Art; Cyprus Revealed: The Golden Green Leaf in the Wine Dark Sea; and Rings of Fire: Art of Euripedes Kastaris. Currently on display in the Main Gallery is Anamniseis: Highlights of the Permanent Collection.
In addition to the exhibitions and educational programs, the Museum offers several programs and events. The “Night at the Kouzina” event, which was held September iS, 2008, was a tasting event of signature dishes from some of the most popular and famous chefs in Chicago. Each chef presented specialties made with his/her own Hellenic flair and samples were available to all in attendance.

The HMCC’s 2007-2009 Board of Directors consists of distinguished Greek Chicago residents including: Aristotle P. Halikias, President; Peter Parthenis and Stephanie Vlahakis, Co-Vice Presidents; Marilyn Tzakis, and Bill J. Vranas Co-Treasurers; Maria Lampros, Corresponding Secretary; Konstantinos Armiros, Recording Secretary; John L. Marks, Immediate Past President: Frank S. Kamberos, Themi Vasils, Georgia Mitchell, John Calamos, Dean Papadakis and Tom Skallas. At Large members; Janet Kalant Carison, Dr. James Elipas, Alex Gianaras, Dr. Mary Dochios Kamberos, James Logothetis, Beatrice Marks, James M. Mezilson, Gregory Pappas, Angela Party Paterakis, Nick Verveniotis, and Endy Zemenides.