Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, lands in Cleveland's growing Russian Cultural Garden

Courtesy of Russian Cultural Garden, Laura DeMarco

Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, lands in Cleveland's growing Russian Cultural Garden

Cleveland, Ohio – The first man in space will achieve another first this week, in Cleveland.

A bronze bust of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who passed away in 1968, will be dedicated at the Russian Cultural Garden on Sunday, August 25. The landing will be feted the night before at a gala at the Great Lakes Science Center honoring Gagarin and celebrating the progress of the Russian Garden. Founded in 2011 and dedicated in 2018, the garden is one of the fastest growing of all of the new gardens to take root in the 250- acre Cultural Gardens along Martin Luther King Jr. and East Boulevards.

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Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer: Polish dancers in the Gardens, 2017

Founded in 1916 and stretching three miles along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and East Boulevard near University Circle, there are now 32 established gardens and several more in the works.

The gardens are unique in America, a collection of varied, landscaped outdoor museums honoring the rich ethnic diversity of a city that has evolved over 100 years.

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Laura DeMarco, The Plain Dealer

Located in a pristine spot on MLK Drive along Doan Brook, the beautifully landscaped Russian Cultural Garden began with a “Walk of Fame,”  more than 100 pavers honoring great Russians like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Mendeleev, Akhmatova and others.

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Cleveland Russian Cultural Garden

Gagarin, who soared through the atmosphere to orbit the earth for 1 hour and 48 minutes on April 12, 1961, a first for humankind, has earned a special place.

“He’s a planetary figure known to almost every person in the world,” says Svetlana Stolyarova, one of the founders of the Garden.

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Cleveland Russian Cultural Garden

“As such he seemed the right person to be first honored in the Garden. … When we were offered the bust, we decided it would be a brilliant idea to place the first man in space as the first statue in the Russian Garden.”

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Thomas D. Tokmenko

The Gagarin bust's journey to Cleveland is almost as dramatic as his original flight.

“The bust came to us a as gift and it was so unexpected,” says Stolyarova. “Last fall we received a call from a group called Dialogue of Cultures. They offered to send us the bust with the condition that we install it in the Russian Cultural Garden within a year.

Dialogue of Cultures is the project of Russian businessman named Ruslan Bayramov, who has created a park in Russia called Ethnomir, to educate Russians about other countries around the world.

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Cleveland Russian Cultural Garden

“It’s kind of a commercial version of the Cultural Gardens,” says Stolyarova. “The gardens were created by people who lived in Cleveland and wanted to show the others their motherland culture. In Russia, Bayramov was doing the same thing from the other end, educating Russians about others.”

Bayramov also sought to educate the world about Russian contributions to global culture. To that end, he had more than 50 Yuri Gagarin busts and statues created by artists Aleksey Leonov and has sent them to 35 countries around the globe since 2011, from Russia to Congo to Italy, Germany, the UK, China and Mexico. The bust to arrive in Cleveland is one of just a handful in America. Others are in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston

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Laura DeMarco, The Plain Dealer

“The latest will be in our small, modest garden – it is a very big honor to us,” says Stolyarova.

“We were so honored and humbled by the offer, but we realized this is a just a bust. We need a pedestal and foundation and other things, too. So we started fundraising.”

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Laura DeMarco, The Plain Dealer

The Garden had already raised more than $70,000 to pay for phase one of the landscaping and pavers, but members of the community quickly began raising more money. The Russian Garden has been a leader in both planning events and fundraising in Rockefeller park since 2011.

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Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer: Maslenitsa 2018

“Our community has been very helpful and generous, without them we couldn’t do it,” says Stolyarova.

Events have ranged from piano concerts to their annual Maslenitsa winter pancake festival, which celebrated its fifth year in 2019.

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Cleveland Russian Cultural Garden

This week’s Gala will raise money for the Gagarin addition, as well as future developments.

The Russian Garden, one of a half-dozen new gardens in the last decade, was founded by Stolyarova, Boris Vinogradsky and Sergio Lebid in 2011 to honor the growing Cleveland Russian community.

“We felt that the whole idea of the Cultural Gardens is tremendous and unique – the whole idea of peace through understanding and community. This place was an embodiment of that idea,” says Stolyarova.  “And we felt that the  great Russian culture needed to be reflected in the gardens. There is a big Russian community here and many people felt the same thing.”

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Laura DeMarco, The Plain Dealer

The installation of the first man in space is big step forward for the garden that was just a dream a few years ago.

“The garden taught people about the Russian culture and its contributions to the world,” says Stolyarova. “When you walk around and see the names of the famous Russian people, you realize ‘I’ve heard this music, I’ve read this book.’ … It fires a spark of interest and make you look at history and the present from a different angle and you feel much more connected to the world.”

As Gagarin famously said in 1961, “Let’s go!”

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Cleveland Russian Cultural Garden

Gagarin Gala

What: Gagarin Gala, a celebration of Yuri Gagarin, whose statue will be installed in the Russian Cultural Garden in Rockefeller Park in Cleveland on Sunday, August 25.

When: 6 – 10 p.m. Saturday, August 24

Where: Great Lakes Science Center, 601 Erieside Avenue, Cleveland

Details: The black-tie reception will include access to NASA Glen Visitor Center; plated dinner; debut of special performance by the Cleveland Ballet with a live music by CIM String quartet; live and silent auctions; a documentary on Gagarin, music and more.

Tickets: Individual adult ticket is $150, including reception, dinner, two bar tickets, access to exhibits and parking. $100 children tickets available (without bar). Visit http://www.russianculturalgarden.com/events

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Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer: 2017 naturalization ceremony

One World Day and Dedication

Dedication: The bust of Yuri Gagarin will be dedicated in the Russian Cultural Garden on Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. Drive at 1:45 p.m. Sunday, August 25 -- following the One World Day annual naturalization ceremony --  as part of the 74th  annual One World Day Festival. For more on the fest, see the August 23 Friday magazine.

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Laura DeMarco, The Plain Dealer

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