Michelle Horeski and Eugenia Worobkevich, Warren, Ukrainian Embroidery And Cut Work, 2004

Eugenia Worobkevich was born in Lviv, Ukraine, and became an American citizen in 1955 at the age of 12. She received degrees from Rutgers University and Wayne State University and taught German and Spanish to middle and high school students. Her “burning passion,” however, is embroidery. Today, Eugenia Worobkevich is a master Ukrainian embroiderer.
 
Traditional embroidery plays an important part in the daily, celebratory, and ritual lives of Ukrainian Americans. Many of the designs are very old with symbolic meaning. For festive occasions, women and girls may wear embroidered blouses and men, embroidered ties and shirts. As Eugenia puts it, "No Ukrainian home is without embroidered decorative pillows, table covers, and ritual cloths adorning religious icons."
 
Eugenia began to embroider in earnest at the age of 31. With encouragement from her aunt, Helen Kos, who provided her with examples of embroidery and family cutwork to copy, and Ukrainian embroidery books that gave directions on technique, Eugenia began her long journey into the world of Ukrainian needlework. In 1985 Oksana Tkachuk, a master in Ukrainian nyzynka embroidery, began to teach Eugenia this totally different and challenging technique. Her mentors, Kos and Tkachuk, left Eugenia with the responsibility of teaching Ukrainian embroidery to others in the community and in this way reinforcing this important textile tradition and maintaining it for future generations, She lives her mission of passing on her knowledge with intense determination.

Apprentice Michelle Horeski hails from Detroit, and has Ukrainian heritage on her mother's side. Michelle remembers watching her maternal grandmother embroider pillows and table linens. Though her grandmother passed before Michelle could learn from her, when she met Eugenia she felt that was was awarded an opportunity to learn something deeply rooted in her own heritage. Their work together focuses on the specific nyzanka technique Eugenia learned from her own mentors.

Eugenia also received an apprenticeship award in 1996.

- Yvonne Lockwood and Micah Ling, 2004