Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture

09/03/2026

From the early days of the Museum, Val Ramonis was there as an artist, an editor of the Museum Review, a future Executive Director, and longtime Museum advocate. In April 1967, the Museum hosted its first exhibit of Val's work featuring twenty selected paintings setting the scene for many future successful art exhibits at the Museum. Val was also Executive Director during the time when the Museum moved from Archer Avenue to Pulaski Road in 1986. Val would later leave the Museum in 1994 to start the independent publication Lithuanian Heritage Magazine.

In the photo, from left to right, are Stanley Balzekas Jr., Stasys Lozoraitis, Jr., the Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States, and Val Ramonis.

Have you attended any of Val's exhibitions or have you been a regular reader of his writings? Let us know about it in the comments and !

08/31/2026

The Guild of the Balzekas Museum is delighted to have you participate in our 2026 Balzekas Museum “ Oktoberfest” Lithuanian Style. The event will be held at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, 6500 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, IL 60629 on Sunday, October 4th, 2026, doors open at 12:30 pm. Suggested donations for tickets for the event are $40 in advance and $45 at the door. Join us for an afternoon of music, dance, raffles, and a buffet of traditional Lithuanian food and beverages!

08/31/2026

The Guild of the Balzekas Museum is delighted to have you participate in our 2026 Balzekas Museum Holiday Craft Fair and Social. The event will be held at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, 6500 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, IL 60629 on Saturday, November 21, 2026. Please submit your registration as soon as possible as our table reservations are limited and will be reserved on a first come first serve basis. Please plan to join us as we start the holidays off with some Christmas Cheer!

Reservation Request:
*Please Completely Fill Out Your Request Below - $30.00 Per Table & One Craft Item for our on-site Raffle in support of the museum. (A second table can be reserved for $20.00.) Please review and complete the information below then mail it to the address provided below with your payment to reserve your table.
YOUR REGISTRATION MUST BE RECEIVED BY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026. Your information will be included as a participant in the Event Flyer. The flyer will be updated as participants are received. Please drop off your registration at the museum or mail to: ROB MARTIN, GUILD OF THE BALZEKAS MUSEUM, 6500 SOUTH PULASKI ROAD, CHICAGO, IL 60629.

The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, the Guild of the Balzekas Museum or anyone affiliated with this event will not be held responsible or liable for accidents, injuries, or the loss or damage of goods associated with 2026 Balzekas Museum Holiday Craft Fair and Social.

08/21/2026

08/21/2026

WEEKLY FRIDAY FINDS:

This week we found "Madona of the Fields" (Laukų madona), a 1942 linocut print created by Lithuanian graphic artist, painter, and sculptor Domicelė Tarabildienė (1912–1985).
This piece, created during World War 2, displays Christian iconography and deeply rooted Lithuanian folk art traditions. The classic image of Madonna and Child is reimagined through a uniquely Lithuanian lens with sharp contrasts between black ink and negative white space. We would like to thank the Artists’ Association of Lithuania that donated this piece to the Balzekas Museum.

08/20/2026

For over 60 years the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian culture has been dedicated to fulfilling our mission to preserve, perpetuate, showcase, and celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of the Lithuanian nation and people worldwide. After serving the waves of Lithuanian immigrants in our West Lawn neighborhood, the Chicago area, and the United States It has been our pleasure to extend our mission by opening a second Balzekas Museum location earlier last month. The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture was founded in 1966 during the height of the Cold War when Lithuania was subsumed into the Soviet Union and cut off from the rest of the world. Concerned about the plight of their ancestral land, leaders of Chicago’s Lithuanian community established the Museum to serve as a cultural ‘home away from the homeland’ for Chicago Lithuanians and a gateway to Lithuania, its language, history, culture, and traditions for all Chicagoans. With the good fortune of being located in a diverse and culturally welcoming city, the help of an active core of volunteers, and the support of an ever-growing number of members and donors, the Museum’s exhibitions and programs developed and flourished. In 20 years, its collections outgrew the original facility. In 1986, the Museum purchased and moved to the building it currently occupies, the former Von Solbrig Hospital in Chicago’s West Lawn neighborhood. Today, in 2026 after a bit more blood, sweat, and tears, we’ve continued to expand and facilitate the healthy growth of the Lithuanian American community. We welcome you to visit our new satellite location!

We want to thank all the officials who attended the opening and most importantly, we want to thank you our patrons, followers, audience, and partners that helped make it all possible.

If you are interested in becoming a museum member visit our website:

https://balzekasmuseum.org/member-sign-up-page/

Your continued support helps support our educational programs, library and archives, and development of new exhibitions, films, and publications.
Thank you!

08/19/2026

What are Sutartinės?
You may have heard of the term Sutartinės
during the Lithuanian song festival, a friend, or from Joninės, but what does it mean and where did it come from?

Inscribed in the Representative list of Intagible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, UNESCO details it best:

Sutartinės (from the word sutarti – to be in concordance) is a form of polyphonic music performed by female singers in north-east Lithuania. The songs have simple melodies, with two to five pitches, and comprise two distinct parts: a meaningful main text and a refrain that may include nonce words. There are almost forty different styles and ways of performing Sutartinės. Mainly, they can be performed by two singers in parallel seconds; by three singers in strict canon, all performing both phrases of the melody at staggered intervals; or by two groups of singers, the lead singer of each pair singing the main text, while the partner sings the refrain, before the second pair repeats. The poetic texts encompass many themes, including work, calendar rituals, weddings, family, wars, history and moments of daily life. Choreography is uncomplicated and movements are moderate, often austere, such as walking in the form of a circle or star while linking arms and stamping feet. Sutartinės are performed on solemn occasions, as well as festivals, concerts and social gatherings. Their performance promotes the sharing of cultural values and provides a feeling of cultural identity, continuity and self-esteem. Sutartinės are usually sung by women, but men perform instrumental versions on pan-pipes, horns, long wood trumpets, fipple flutes and plucked zithers.

Learn more here:
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/sutartins-lithuanian-multipart-songs-00433

07/12/2026

On October 28, we celebrate the life of the late Algimantas Kezys, a Jesuit priest and Lithuanian photographer who was born in 1928. Recently, in the Museum's beLONGING exhibit, Algimantas was included amongst many other Lithuanian artists and designers.

For fellow fans of Algimantas, the Gift Shop currently offers a rich collection of many out-of-print volumes of his photography which we encourage you to share with fellow photography fans.

To buy this and other gift shop items go to our store page here:

https://balzekasmuseum.myshopify.com/search?q=kezys&options%5Bprefix%5D=last

06/29/2026

Our favorite knight is hard at work bringing you the new Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture satellite location 'Balzekas by the Bean.’

Join us for the 60th BIRTHDAY
Celebration
&
GRAND OPENING
Balzekas Museum of
Lithuanian Culture
satellite location
at 172 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago

Saturday, July 11