Abstract Polish immigrants have always been an integral part of the melting pot of America. This paper discusses the settlement of Poles in the Chicago area, showing that their numbers grew to such huge amounts that the areas in which they settled became known as the 'Polish Triangle'. The paper looks at the Polish immigrants' link to Roman Catholicism, the parishes which developed because of this link and the internal fighting between parishes. The paper also discusses how the immigrants identified with Poland during WWI and WWII and how the culture of this ethnic group has been affected by twentieth century developments in America.
From the Paper "One such conflict revolved around the Polish National Alliance. This particular group believed that the Polish Catholic Parish system was not using its money effectively. They wished to see more money sent towards liberation efforts in the homeland. Their primary goal in America was to prepare Poles on American Soil to ?return to the homeland to be useful citizens.? The group utilized the editorial pages of the Polish newspapers to attack the clergy and to blame them for numerous forms of fiscal mismanagement. The face of the clergy targeted was personified by Reverend Vincent Barzynski, pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka. In order to defend the community-parish movement, Barzynski created the Polish Roman Catholic Union (PRCU). This new "union" was focused on parish development on American soil. They believed that the best way to help Poland was by helping her immigrants."
This paper discusses two new art movements established as part of the new communist state in the first two decades of the 20th century in Russia, Constructivism and Suprematism.
Abstract This paper explains the Constructivism movement, which relied on geometric shapes and was almost mathematical, and the Suprematism movement, in which art, before all else, is spiritual. Suprematism carried much more symbolism than the Constructivist artwork, which emphasized function. The author describes the work of Alexander Rodchenko, Vladimir Tatlin, El Lissitzky, and Casimir Malevich. The paper summarizes that, despite the fact that political changes during the mid-1900s brought these abstract art movements almost to an end, the impact of these artists on Russia, Eastern Europe, and the West continues to this day. Illustrations.
From the Paper "Rodchenko asserted that the concept of composition was a relic, because it was mere aesthetics and related to taste and other out-of-date artistic concepts. Instead, he said, composition had to be replaced by principles of construction and organization. ?All new approaches to art arise from technology and engineering and move towards organization and construction.? Construction represented the height of hundreds of years of artistic creation. It was part of the same process that led to Communist Russia. Rodchenko also stressed that a utilitarian element was present in the idea of organization and construction. The artist's goal was not to create a work of art but rather a utilitarian product and solving technological problems. Such statements polarized the Constructivists and those who were strongly aligned with aesthetic concerns."
