STAFF

JEN BUDNEYExecutive Director and CEO

Jen is a 4th generation Ukrainian Canadian, whose great-grandparents settled in Manitoba (Hadashville and Brokenhead) and Alberta (between Lamont and Chipman). She was born in Saskatoon but grew up Australia and Alberta, and she has been working in the cultural sector as curator and administrator for more than 25 years.

An art school graduate with a Master’s in Anthropology and a PhD in Public Policy, for which her research focused on public value creation by small museums, Jen has a deep interest in museum management and improving the service museums can offer to the public.

She lives in the Caswell Hill neighbourhood of Saskatoon with her husband Richard and two children – Alexia (13) and Julian (10) – who all love to visit the Museum. Alexia adored the Ivana Kupala celebration in June 2022 and the talk by Nadya Foty-Oneschuk, and Julian, an avid reader of folklore, loves the ancient roots of the Trizub! For her part, Jen loves her small but creative and energetic team at the Museum and is excited to go to work with them every day.

LINDSEY REWUSKICommunications Manager

The Museum’s newest employee, having started in September, Lindsey has over 15 years of experience in communications in cultural organizations, including graphic design, marketing, digital content creation, and outreach. She was most recently at PAVED Arts, a media arts gallery and production centre, and spent ten years at Mendel Art Gallery/Remai Modern in Saskatoon, where she was the in-house Designer and Content Coordinator.

Lindsey is excited to start her new journey at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, not only to learn more about her family’s Ukrainian roots (who came to Saskatchewan in the early 1900s), but to help share with Saskatoon and beyond the Museum’s beautiful space, its unique history, and the story of Ukrainians in Canada, both past and present. When Lindsey is not working, she’s also a practicing visual artist, whose work includes immersive A/V installations and performances that combine light, video, photography, and sound.

Fun fact: It was on a visit to the UMC a few years ago, during an exhibition of ceramics by Peter Rupchan, that Lindsey discovered the origins of a mysterious antique bowl that has been passed down in her family for generations!

ANASTASIIA MISANLibrary and Education Officer

Anastasiia is from Novomoskovsk, Ukraine. She arrived in Saskatoon in April 2022 with her teenage brother, having left Ukraine on account of the war. She has two degrees – one in Interpretation, from the Dnipro National University of Railway Transport, and one in Psychology from National Aerospace University – Kharkiv Aviation Institute. She began working full-time at the Museum in June 2022, tasked with the heroic job of organizing our Museum’s library.

Anastasiia is a book lover and loves to learn, so the UMC is a perfect work environment for her. She says she “loves the atmosphere,” which has “brought new breath” to her life.

This fall, she is taking a course in Archival Management and will continue to catalogue and digitize our library holdings. You will also often find her greeting guests and guiding tours. She speaks seven languages and can tell a good joke in all of them!

MASHA LEVKOVYTSKARetail and Visitor Services Administrator

Masha was born in Khmelnitsky, Ukraine. Her family moved to Canada when she was ten years old. She has mixed ancestry, as her mother’s family are old Ukrainians from the Sumy region, while her father is from the Altai Region near Russian/Mongolia border. She now proudly considers herself a Canadian as well. When Masha is not at the Museum, she is busy finishing her last year of studies in the Regional and Urban Planning program at University of Saskatchewan. She is passionate about urban design, architecture, and building better cities. You will usually find Masha at the front desk – she loves greeting visitors and meeting all the unique people who come by. “You never know who’s going to visit!” she says. Her favorite thing about working in the UMC is helping people rediscover aspects of their culture and history. “The Ukranian diaspora and culture are so unique and varied that you will always discover something new you didn’t know existed,” says Masha.

JARED BOECHLERResearch and Collections Assistant

Jared is a contemporary visual artist and has been working as an arts professional for the past 10 years. He was born and raised in Saskatoon but has lived and worked internationally as an artist, including in New York, Asia, and Europe. His previous positions in the museum sector include Curatorial Assistant at the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery, and Gallery Assistant at the New York Artists Equity Association in Manhattan. Jared takes care of the permanent collection and collaborates in the curation of exhibits. Some of his daily duties include accepting and safely storing donated artefacts along with managing the Museum’s digital collection. He was also responsible for curating two display booths for the UMC at the Saskatoon Exhibition in Summer 2022, and the Vitaliy Lytvyn print exhibit on display at the Museum this fall. Jared says he enjoys working in environments that require great attention to detail, so working directly with the artefacts is a fun part of the job! The opportunity to dig into the history that surrounds the objects and artworks means he is constantly learning, and this is also extremely rewarding.

VALENTYNA MAHINABusiness Manager

Valentyna was born in Ukraine and came to Canada in the summer of 2003. She has a University degree in Economics and earned her Certified General Accountants FSA diploma in Canada after immigration.

She began working for the UMC in April 2018. Valentyna has over 35 years of accounting/financial experience, which she puts to good use balancing the books and handling the Museum’s financial reports.

Valentyna loves to spend time with her family, likes gardening, relaxing time at the lake, and is still working on finding this perfect balance in life.

UMC Board of Directors 2022

Andy Iwanchuk – Chair
Karen Wasylenko
Evan Howlett
Stephanie Ortynsky
Patricia Ciona
Marusia Foster
Joan Borsa
Tanya Sotnikov
Jim Shevchuk
Liz Dusyk
Jordan Welbourne
Leona Faryna Bridges
Linda Balon-Smith

Our Team

STAFF

UMC Board of Directors 2022