“On the first part of the journey I was looking at all the life, There were plants and birds and rocks and things, There was sand and hills and rings”
epitaph by BigAddison updated with Obit below.
New to town us both, Taras landed in 2010 due to a broken down car. I landed a couple years prior in 2008 due to a broken down marriage. Exiles both from foreign lands, his Germany, mine Southern California. Worlds apart. Wonder years spent.
I didn’t know Taras well.
We met over coffee at my little espresso bar in what was then “Martha’s Place Hotel”. Our family owned small hotel in Columbus, New Mexico. Martha was my mother.
Taras was a regular for several years until our selling the hotel to my uncle. Taras would pop-by in the morning for a quick double shot of espresso straight up, and then pop-out with a slice of Martha’s homemade Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake.
Aside from pleasantry’s and small talk, we never connected socially, but we did have a connection. Both shipwrecked in Columbus. Both walking to a distant drumbeat. Both trying to leave a mark in shifting sands.
“The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz, And the sky with no clouds, The heat was hot, and the ground was dry, But the air was full of sound”
I’m very late to the table of Taras, too late in fact. My writing this piece is because I had the great privilege to host his extended family at my bed & breakfast for the week for their long goodbye. I couldn’t help from being touched by the outpour towards their dad, brother, and uncle from so many that traveled so far. That alone was tribute enough to the life and the man who garnered it.
Yesterday, the village artists and likeminded misfits turned out to pay their respects to a man they had adopted as one of their own. Again, a significant accounting of the measure of the man. I too joined the gathering. I wanted to see the accounting. I wanted to be counted.
We learned Taras had made an agreement with his landlord before the construction of his now iconic sculpture garden seen by countless travelers along Highway 9. The agreement would insure the garden would remain for 99 years as a condition to selling or renting the property. That’s how you leave a mark.
“I’ve been through the desert On a horse with no name It felt good to be out of the rain, In the desert you can remember your name ‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain”
The man was a sculptor. He was also a sculpture. You can see that from his youthful good looks above to the finely aged chiseled distinction his face declares here in this very recent picture. A selfie maybe. His last, maybe.
It was shared at his memorial gathering that Taras had a life so full, the events, the celebrities, the stories to vast to encapsulate with the time allotted. That too is something we kindred. And I am confidant it’s barely half known.
Since I didn’t really know Taras well, writing this epitaph from afar is rather odd I know. But, I can’t help to think that for an artist such as Taras, it’s high praise to be encountered after death, and moved by his art enough to wish I had known the man. Vaya Con Dios Taras!
Obituary
Taras Mychalewych, 79, of Columbus, New Mexico, was discovered deceased on February 13, 2025. Taras died at his home, observing wildlife from his front porch, loving and honoring creation, surrounded by birdcalls and breezes.
Taras Mychalewych was born on December 12, 1945 to parents Nina [Lindfors] and Michael Mychalewych in a Displaced Persons camp in Munich, Germany at the end of World War II. His family emigrated to the United States in 1949, and settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. Taras graduated from Henry Sibley High School (1963), attended University of Minnesota, then served the Army as a Military Policeman in Germany. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where he studied sculpting.
Taras was a sculptor and mosaicist. He is listed among the Notable People of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Taras’ sculptures are in private collections, as well as in the permanent collection of The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) in Chicago.
Many knew Taras during his work as a transcontinental long-haul truck driver. He was civically active and volunteered for various causes, he was a consistent patron of The Sofia Rusova School in Oleshnia, Ukraine. He served as President of the Columbus NM Library Board of Directors in 2021.
Taras is survived by his daughter Aimee Hanson, his sisters Irena (Fedir)Tkachenko and Olha (Evhen) Rudakevych, his nieces Nina (Patrick) Carmichael and Sofia Rudakevych, his nephews Yurko (Leslie) Tkachenko, Olexa (Christine) Tkachenko, Danylo (Barb) Rudakevych, Pavlo Rudakevych, Ostap Rudakevych and his great nieces Tanya (Alex) Rudakevych, Natalie Rudakevych, Sofia Tkachenko, Camille Burgess, Stella Burgess, Anya Tkachenko, Mila Tkachenko, Katalina Tkachenko and great-nephews Aiden Tkachenko, Dominic Rudakevych.
Preceding Taras in death were his parents Nina and Michael Mychalewych, his sister Lesia Mychalewych, and his infant brother Ostap Mychalewych.
Taras’ greatest goal and wish was to share his Hearts United vision. For the last thirteen years of his life he dedicated his time and energy to creating a sculpture garden in New Mexico as a tribute to Mothers, the Frontera Sculpture Oasis. The plaque at Frontera reads: “The Oasis is a way of humbly saying Thank You to the Mother of God, to Mother Earth and all Mothers, for the miracle of life, for Your selflessly giving for the happiness of All. Thank you Mama.”
Taras was a generous spirit with an inquisitive demeanor – curious about the meaning of life and interested in the expansiveness of spirituality. He is loved and missed by many. In keeping with Taras’ last wishes, cremation took place at Terrazas Crematory with close family in attendance.
The Frontera Sculpture Oasis
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