polish cultural institute

Interesting place and the collections are interesting. The gift shop staff were friendly and very helpful. It's worth dropping in to see and be sure and check out the ceiling in the gift shop.

The Polish Cultural Institute is a gem of a museum located in Winona MN. The museum is a treasure trove of items demonstrating the Kashubian heritage of the Polish settlers in Winona. There are wall hangings, pictures, furniture, and typical clothing from various times in the history of the Polish in Winona. There are also many saved religious items from churches around the area as well as donated items. The museum has a nice doll collection as well. There is an on-site gift shop with Polish pottery, amber jewelry and souvenir items. The museum owes a great debt to Father Paul Breza whose dream of showcasing the history of the Kashubian people in America as well as Winona has steadily grown over the years. He is definitely the force, both financial and energy that is behind the success of the museum and institute. The museum has also collected many genealogies of area Polish people so a little known fact is that visitors can ask (email, phone or in person) one of the volunteers to do a lookup in the records. They have early church records as well as donated personal genealogies.

Amazing collection. Polish culture, local history, Catholic iconography, architectural treasures, simply GREAT staff (Steven Boland)... Went in expecting something interesting, came out just blown away by this under-the-radar slice of visionary awesomeness. Seriously wonderful. World-class unique.