Organization

The year 1995 was a banner year for Russian culture in the Tampa Bay area. A blockbuster exhibit known as “Treasures of the Czars” came to the Florida International Museum from the Museums of the Kremlin in Moscow, and the entire area began to find ways to connect with the theme of Russia and its cultural past. The Fine Arts Museum had a special exhibit on Russian art; the History Museum featured a temporary exhibit devoted to Peter Demens; and Eckerd College and USF had a special course offered on Russia, built around a public lecture series that brought world renown scholars to the campuses, including Suzanne Massie, Nicholas Riasanovsky, Richard Pipes, George Gibian, and poets like Joseph Brodsky and Yevgeny Yevtushenko. The public schools developed units of study on Russia, arranged field trips to the Museum, and in some cases facilitated contacts with students in Russia. It was an exciting time for people who had a strong interest in Russia!