Organizations

The Regional Center of Folk Art in Vladimir (director – Ye.N. Maslova, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation) has been uniting skillful and talented people for many decades. For 75 years, it has been carrying out a mission to preserve the invaluable heritage of the traditional culture of the Vladimir region. RCFA began its history in September 1944, when the Regional House of Folk Art was created, according to the decision of the Vladimir Regional Executive Committee.

The Historical museum in Vladimir was founded in 1862 and was originally housed in the provincial male gymnasium. A separate building was constructed only in 1900-1906. Vladimir provincial architect P.G. Begen created a beautiful mansion in pseudo-Russian style made of red brick, decorated with ancient tiles of Gorokhovets masters.

The Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts "Crystal. Lacquer miniature. Embroidery" is located in the Trinity Church, near the Golden Gates of Vladimir. It was founded in 1974 by the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve. Luxurious exposition, containing unique, but so different works of art, is organically fit into the interior of the temple. Visitors can see artworks of masters who can subjugate  capricious crystal, make a picturesque lacquer miniature and "draw" ornate patterns of embroidery on the fabric.

Mstera is a craft center not only of regional, but also of Russian significance. For  a hundred years, the Mstera Art Museum has been collecting the best works of folk artists. The unique collection of the museum reflects all facets of traditional crafts and trades. The Mstera Art Museum was founded in October 1919. One of the initiators of its creation was a native of Mstera, academician of painting F.A. Modorov.

The Crystal Museum named after Maltsovs (part of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve), one of the best museums of Russian art glass, was opened in 1983 in Gus-Khrustalny. It is housed in the building of the former St. George Cathedral (1892-1903) designed by the architect Leonty Benois in pseudo-Russian style. Therefore the decoration of the cathedral was preserved in the interior of the Crystal Museum.

The Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life was founded in the 1960-1970s. This is an open-air museum complex, which presents unique religious and residential wooden buildings of the 18th-19th centuries brought from various villages of the Vladimir region. In fact, it is a stylized rural street with churches, houses and outbuildings. The museum is situated on the bank of the Kamenka River on the outskirts of Suzdal, where the oldest city St. Demetrius monastery was located in the 11th century.