Relief efforts boost interest in Pysanky and a storied Minneapolis shop

The Ukrainian Gift Shop in Minneapolis was quiet on Good Friday — a well-earned day off after a busy Easter season. The business sells tools and kits to make Pysanky, or eggs decorated in the Ukrainian tradition.

This year, the shop saw a rush of orders from churches and other groups making and selling the eggs to raise funds for humanitarian relief in Ukraine, where nearly 2,000 civilians are confirmed dead and thousands more reported dead in Russian attacks.

Allyson Perchyshyn, whose family opened the store in 1947, met MPR News host Tom Crann in the shop Friday to share more about the eggs and the special meaning they’ve taken on this year.

Hear their conversation above or read a transcript of it below. It has been lightly edited for clarity and length. And to learn about ways you can help Ukraine, visit standwithukrainemn.com.

So tell me how it's done. When we’re kids, we decorate Easter eggs by dipping them and dye. But this is a skill that involves wax and actual tools to write on the egg, right?

Yeah, so you have a tool. It's called a kistky. It's a long handle, and the end has a metal tip that's sort of like a funnel. And you heat it up so that the metal is hot, then you scoop some beeswax and the funnel. Then we'll draw that beeswax onto the egg.

And you work sort of in reverse. So you start with a white egg, whatever I want to be white in the end will be covered with beeswax and then you dip it in dyes like you said. But these dyes will last a lot longer than the regular grocery store Easter egg dyes.

We think of them as Easter eggs, but tell me the history. They go back before Christian times, right?

Originally, it was actually a pagan art. Eggs are symbolic of new life, which of course relates to spring. And you write symbols on the egg, and that is your wish for someone.

I understand that that's the purpose of them, to be given as gifts. These are these are meant as keepsakes and heirlooms and pieces of art to be passed down, right?

Of course. I have some in my home that are over 100 years old.

Tell me how you got involved in this.

I learned from my grandmother at age three.

So I imagine this year, this artistry takes on even more meaning for you personally and in your family, as you look at what’s going on in Ukraine.

Of course. I'm going to quote my grandmother. Somebody asked her what makes somebody Ukrainian, and and she said, “Oh the heart.” So I think part of this art is a good way to feel connected to the culture and have people know about what's going on.

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