Financed Projects

• Who am I? - Documenting Romanian Immigration to the US, July 2021

Heritage Organization of Romanian Americans (HORA), established in 2009, is a volunteer run, non-profit organization with a mission and a passion to enrich Minnesota’s diverse community through the preservation, promotion and sharing of the cultural heritage of the Romanian American community. A group of friends saw a need to create a space to share Romanian traditions, culture, and history without religious influence and started the group. “I think geography is relative. Romania is in our hearts and in our minds. It’s in our power to bring it here with us. That is HORA's role, to invite everyone to experience the unique Romanian culture, history, and traditions right here in Minnesota.”-HORA President, Eugenia Popa.

In the last 14 years we offered art classes, adult and youth language classes, organized cultural exhibits, dance and performance events. We partnered to organize and present at cultural events such as: Festival of Nations, Romanian Festival, Balkan Fest, Peoplefest, Carpathian Festival, and Black Sea Odyssey. We hosted presentations, concerts, performances; we celebrated traditional festivals and participated in Romanian and Minnesotan community events, large and small. In 2019 we opened a Cultural Center located in the Landmark Center. In 2021, we created the first Romanian Spring Traditions Exhibit and held several art education sessions involving Romanian artists in MN. 

Since 2013 we have collected oral histories and produced two documentary films about immigrant experiences of Romanians in MN. The previous two projects focused on the beginning of Romanian immigration in Minnesota (“A Thousand Dollars and Back” made in collaboration with RGS- https://vimeo.com/98937448) and the immigration during communist era (“Through the Iron Curtain- from Romania”- HORA Documentary Trailer). In 2021 we started working on a third documentary about Romanian immigration to the Twin Cities that will be finalized in 2023-24.