The Lynden Sculpture Garden is located at 2145 West Brown Deer Road. Admission is free. All events listed below are free unless otherwise indicated. Memberships, which offer significant discounts on workshops and other events, are available.
HOURS
In July, the Lynden Sculpture Garden is open daily from 10 am-5 pm (closed Thursdays). Thanks to the generosity of our donors, admission is free at this time. For complete information on events, visitor guidelines, and everything that goes on at Lynden, visit lyndensculpturegarden.org. We will be closed for the holiday on July 4.
EXHIBITIONS
ENEIDA SANCHES: MATERIAL TRANCE
Through October 29, 2023
More information: https://www.
Eneida Sanches (b. Salvador, Bahia, 1962) is a metalsmith, printmaker, sculptor, and installation artist. She has been exploring the idea of trance as a religious phenomenon and the collective social representation of Afro-Bahian culture and its histories for more than twenty years. Trance, according to Dr. Rachel Elizabeth Harding, “is an elemental experience in many African and Afro-Atlantic religions, and ultimately, it is a poetic-artistic means of communication between different planes of experience.” For Sanches, the body is the locus of trance, making it a material practice—a state of immanence rather than transcendence. Material Trance brings together a selection of the artist’s prints, plates, sculptures, and installations.
THE BONSAI EXHIBIT AT LYNDEN
Open Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm, or by appointment.
More information: http://www.
Located beside Big Lake, the Bonsai Exhibit at Lynden—a collaboration with the Milwaukee Bonsai Society and the Milwaukee Bonsai Foundation–includes a display area for bonsai, waterside teaching patio, and pollinator garden.
CALL & RESPONSE
More information: https://www.
Since 2015, Call & Response–a cumulative, cross-disciplinary, community-focused, artist-driven initiative–has brought together artists, scholars, educators, and community members to construct a space for artists of color to celebrate the radical Black imagination as a means to re-examine the past and imagine a better future. This year, we offer in-person residencies and public programs with artists Eneida Sanches, Daniel Minter, Arianne King Comer, Reggie Wilson, Portia Cobb, and LaNia Sproles.
HOME 2023: WORLD REFUGEE DAY CELEBRATIONS
More information: https://www.
We begin our World Refugee Day celebration on June 20 at Milwaukee City Hall. The HOME Refugee Steering Committee at the Lynden Sculpture Garden then invites you to observe World Refugee Day in a series of outdoor events and programs at Lynden that celebrate Milwaukee’s refugee communities through art, food, fashion, and performance: World Refugee Day (June 25), Music and Dance Day (July 15), Craft Market and Fashion Day (August 19), and a final Craft Day on September 16.
WORKSHOPS & EVENTS
ARIANNE KING COMER RESIDENCY AND DROP-IN DYEING DAYS
July 10-July 22, 2023
For more information and to register for open dyeing days: https://www.
IBILE! Ancestral Call in Cloth, is the latest iteration of a CALL & RESPONSE residency we began with artist and indigo advocate Arianne King Comer in 2017. Over the years, King Comer has collaborated with several of her fellow CALL & RESPONSE artists, including Portia Cobb, Reggie Wilson, Scott Alves Barton, and Daniel Minter. She is also a member of the HOME Refugee Steering Committee. This summer, Comer joins us following a residency at Indigo Arts Alliance, an organization co-founded by Daniel Minter. During her two-week residency at Lynden, she will resume her all ages, open-air, indigo-dyeing studio, inviting groups and individuals to join her at the dyeing vat as she relates the history of indigo and teaches different resist-dyeing methods, particularly traditional batik, adire (Yoruba), and shibori (Japanese) techniques of designing on cloth. Comer’s studio will also be open for drop-in dyeing during HOME Music and Dance Day on July 15.
HOME MUSIC AND DANCE DAY
Saturday, July 15, 2023 – 11 am-4 pm
FREE
More information: https://www.
For HOME Music and Dance Day, emcees from Milwaukee’s refugee communities welcome back returning performers including Congo Gospel Music Band (Congolese), Golden Melody Band U.S.A (Burmese), C&K Music Band (Chin and Karen), Spring Star Music Band (Burmese), Knyaw Youth of MKE (Karen), and African dance organized by Maggie Bushiri (Congolese). Artist-in-residence Arianne King Comer will open her outdoor batik dyeing studio from 11 am-3 pm for T-shirt making. Bring a picnic and a blanket to enjoy the outdoors with friends, family, and community. Or bring along cash to purchase food and refreshments prepared by chefs from the Burmese community.
BIRDING WITH CHUCK STEBELTON
Sunday, July 16, 2023 – 8:30-10 am
Fee: $10/$5 members.
More information and to register: https://www.
Join artist-in-residence and birder Chuck Stebelton each month for a small-group bird walk on the grounds. Keeping to the perimeter of the garden, we’ll watch for seasonal migrants and resident bird species and seek out the best bird habitats to identify as many species as we can. Please dress for the weather and plan to walk in varied terrain. Bring your binoculars if you have them; no previous birding experience required.
LABYRINTH SOCIETY OF LYNDEN SCULPTURE GARDEN: NEW MOON SOUND BATH + LABYRINTH WALK
Thursday, July 17, 2023 – 7-8:30 pm
Fee: $25/$20 members. Pre-registration required.
More information and to register: https://www.
Join artist-in-residence Jenna Knapp and collaborator Sevan Arabajian for an evening of new moon ideation and imagination. The new moon marks the first lunar phase and can symbolize new beginnings in our life. You can use the energy of the new moon to set intentions, imagine the successful completion of your goals, or seed a new idea. Take some time out of your week to relax into a healing sound bath and identify your intention for this new beginning. Then, join Jenna in the labyrinth for a sunset candle walk.
HOME BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
Thursday, July 20, 2023 – 7-8:30 pm
VIRTUAL
FREE.
More information and to register:
https://www.
The Lynden/HOME Refugee Steering Committee book discussion group, moderated by Lynden’s Kim Khaira, is for those interested in firsthand accounts of displacement. We consider works of non-fiction and fiction, including autobiographical and semi-autobiographical works, by writers who have faced or are facing forced displacement as refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants. Where stories of persecution, historical trauma, and loss of livelihood are effortlessly conveyed by storytellers, journalists, and humanitarians who search out or stumble upon the lives of refugees, we seek out the words of those to whom these stories belong: the narrators who are the closest to their own stories, and the stories of their people, friends, family and, of course, refugees. In July we begin Her First Palestinian, a collection of stories by Saeed Teebi. Newcomers welcome! Newcomers welcome!
DOG DAYS AT LYNDEN
Saturday, July 22, 2023 – 10 am-4 pm
FREE.
More information: https://www.
Bring your canine friends for an afternoon of romping in the garden.
GARDEN WORK DAY
Tuesday, July 25, 2023 – 10 am-12 pm
More information and to register: https://www.
Join the Lynden land team—Kyle Welna, Alyx Christensen, Esther Portnoy and Annalesa Albright–for a volunteer work day on the grounds. The Lynden Sculpture Garden is transforming its natural habitats and formal landscapes into sustainable and diverse ecosystems that highlight the natural beauty inherent in them. The Lynden’s goal is to steward healthy habitats for an array of native plants and wildlife while adding a vibrant mosaic of color and texture to this sculptural landscape through every season. With over 40 acres and more than half a dozen specialized garden spaces, the Lynden provides many volunteer and learning opportunities, from removing invasive species to planting new trees and plugs, weeding, pruning, collecting, and spreading seeds. In July, we could use your help keeping Waterfall Hill—the first thing that visitors see upon entry–tidy.
NATURAL AREAS WORK DAY
Thursday, July 27, 2023 – 10 am-12 pm
More information and to register: https://www.
Join the Lynden land team—Kyle Welna, Alyx Christensen, Esther Portnoy and Annalesa Albright–for a volunteer work day on the grounds. The Lynden Sculpture Garden is transforming its natural habitats and formal landscapes into sustainable and diverse ecosystems that highlight the natural beauty inherent in them. The Lynden’s goal is to steward healthy habitats for an array of native plants and wildlife while adding a vibrant mosaic of color and texture to this sculptural landscape through every season.With over 40 acres and more than half a dozen specialized garden spaces, the Lynden provides many volunteer and learning opportunities, from removing invasive species to planting new trees and plugs, weeding, pruning, collecting, and spreading seeds. In July, we’re still on the lookout for white sweet clover in Lynden’s prairies and savannas, and we’ll zero in on the pleasantly pungent but vigorously growing wild oregano in and around the labyrinth.
DOG DAYS AT LYNDEN: MEET A CONSERVATION DETECTION DOG
Saturday, July 29, 2023, 11 am-12 pm
FREE
More information and to register:
https://www.
This summer, thanks to the generosity of the Joseph R. Pabst Fund at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, we are once again offering special dog-related programming. Join us for a live demonstration and short presentation by Laura Holder, Ernie, and Betty White of Conservation Dogs Collective. Learn what a conservation dog is, what they do, what they find, and see a live demonstration by a Canine Finder as they sniff out bumble bee nests on our property. All ages are welcome to attend, but please leave your personal pets at home.
PROGRAMS FOR THE YOUNG AND VERY YOUNG
TUESDAYS IN THE GARDEN FOR PARENTS & VERY SMALL CHILDREN
Tuesdays, July 11, 18 & 25, 2023 – 10:30 am-11:30 am
Fee: $16/$12 members for one adult and one child.
More information and to register:
https://www.
Join art educators Claudia Orjuela and Denice Niebuhr for hands-on art making and all-senses-engaged exploration of the outdoor world at Lynden. Tuesdays in the Garden, designed for children aged 1-3, provides a nurturing environment where children’s curiosity and wonder are extended through play and exploration, and children and their caregivers learn and discover side-by-side. We’ll consider different themes, each designed to connect Lynden’s environment with children’s interests. We will encourage experimentation and the manipulation of art and natural materials to tell stories, solve problems, and develop relationships. The themes for July are Garden Animals; Water: Up, Down and All Around; and Life Cycles: Monarch Butterflies.
SUMMER CAMPS AT THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND NATURE—TIME TO REGISTER!
June 19-August 23, 2023
Ages 4-15 years
Fees vary.
More information and to register: https://www.
Lynden’s art and nature camps for children aged 4 to 15 years integrate our collection of monumental outdoor sculpture and temporary installations with the natural ecology of our hidden landscapes and unique habitats. Led by artists, naturalists, and art educators, the camps explore the intersection of art and nature through collaborative inquiry and hands-on artmaking, using all of Lynden’s 40 acres to create a joyful, all-senses-engaged outdoor experience.
NOHL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Funded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund and Joy Engine, and administered by Lynden, the Nohl Fellowship program provides unrestricted funds for local artists to create new work or complete work in progress. The associated Suitcase Export Fund underwrites travel and shipping costs for artists with exhibitions and screenings outside the local area.
2022 NOHL FELLOWS EXHIBITION
June 2-August 6, 2023
Haggerty Museum of Art, 1234 West Tory Hill Street on the Marquette University Camps
Open daily 10 am-4:30 pm, admission free. (The museum will be closed July 3-7, 2023).
More information: https://www.marquette.edu/
The exhibition brings together work by Valaria Tatera and Jason S. Yi in the Established category; and three artists in the Emerging category: JW Balsley, Inna Dmitrieva, and Molly Hassler. The 2022 Fellows were chosen in late 2021 from a field of 165 applicants by a panel of three jurors: Jade Powers, then assistant curator at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri; Victoria Sung, then associate curator of visual arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Toccarra A. H. Thomas, a media and performance artist, film programmer, and arts administrator who is currently director of the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
COMING UP IN AUGUST
Lynden’s annual Backyard Barbecue is on August 24, and we hope you will join us. Special visitors in August include Reggie Wilson, who returns for a three-week Call & Response research residency, and his guests, including artist Nicholas Galanin. HOME Fashion Day & Craft Market, on August 19, is the first of our big events for the month, and the 52nd annual Bonsai Exhibition, scheduled for the weekend of August 26-27, is the last. August 19 is also dog day, and Pets Helping People will be on hand to let you know how you and your dog can become a pet therapy team. Chuck Stebelton leads a bird walk on August 13, and Jenna Knapp and Sevan Arabjian celebrate the full blue moon with a sound bath and ice cream social on August 30. The HOME Book Discussion Group continues with Saeed Teebi’s Her First Palestinian. Summer camps enter their final weeks, Tuesdays in the Garden meets weekly (five times in August!), and before you know it you will be signing up for fall classes. We finish the month with garden (August 29) and natural areas (August 31) work days—volunteers welcome!
ABOUT THE LYNDEN
The Lynden operates as a laboratory at the intersection of art, nature, and culture. Since opening to the public in 2010, we have worked with artists, educators, students, and our community to create, support, and share experiences that integrate our collection of more than 50 monumental sculptures and temporary installations, Lynden’s community of artists, and the natural ecology of our 40-acre site. The sculpture garden is open to art and nature lovers of all ages daily, 10 am-5 pm; closed Thursdays. Admission is free. Learn more about visitor guidelines here: https://www.
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