Fall Equinox
September Events at the Lynden Sculpture Garden
It is Labor Day and we are laboring, though by the time you get this, work, school and a slew of regular activities will be back in full swing, as if the three-day interruption had never happened. We are greeting visitors as they come to take advantage of this intermittently sunny holiday, and preparing for the launch of the 2015 cycle of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fellowship for Individual Artists program. The application goes live Tuesday, September 8, and we are updating web pages, testing the application form, and making sure that everything is in place. We receive around 150 applications each year, and in 2015 we will be awarding $20,000 to each of two established artists and $10,000 each to three promising emerging artists. That’s $70,000, and that doesn’t include the Suitcase Export Fund, which assists artists with the costs of showing their work outside greater Milwaukee. In October, three jurors will come to Lynden from across the country to choose this year’s fellows. It is part of the work we do to support local artists.
Although we’ve been enjoying a summery reprieve, our fall brochure is done and reflects the change in programming that comes with the approach of the fall equinox. With school back in session, we are rolling out field trips and tours for K-12 groups; the weekly art drop-in and school’s out workshops (the first one comes up on September 14); and our homeschool days. Our ability to offer these programs, and to make them accessible to a broad range of students across southeastern Wisconsin, is dependent on the success of our annual Backyard Barbecue. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who turned out for the event, purveyed food (Braise, Bob Retko, Brenner Brewing, Lush Popcorn, Sassy Cow Creamery, and hog donor Lynde Uihlein), donated auction items (Groth’s Country Gardens, Kavita Mahendra, Larry’s Market, MKELocalicious, North Shore Boulangerie, and Michelle Zimmer and Jack Douthitt), and provided media sponsorship (88.9 Radio Milwaukee, WUWM). A special thank you to our generous major sponsors: Baird Private Wealth Management and the ECAB Investment Group; David and Julia Uihlein; and Stafford Rosenbaum LLP. You are all making a difference in the lives of children this year.
We hope the warm weather lasts long enough for Angela Laughingheart to teach her Qigong workshop, Five Animal Sports, outside this Sunday, but we’re prepared to move it inside. Same with Katheryn Corbin‘s new ceramics workshop, Primitive Raku, and Shibori with Natural Dyes, a workshop with Jamie Lea Bertsch that is just a lot easier to do outdoors. But we’re already adding the indoor activities: Yevgeniya Kaganovich‘s grow workshops are back, and we imagine those of you who drop in for our monthly family workshop will be moving back and forth between the grounds, to collect leaves, and the studio, to make fall foliage suncatchers. Dog Day is firmly outdoors, and the first fall event of the Women’s Speaker Series, a visit from P. S. Duffy, author of The Cartographer of No Man’s Land, is certainly indoors, but if you arrive early enough you are free to stroll the grounds before the sun sets (6:37 pm that day; with dusk 30 minutes later, that still leaves you with a half hour for wine and snacks before the talk begins). If there’s one person who ventures out no matter what, it’s naturalist Naomi Cobb, and she will be leading the very young and their companions outside for Tuesdays in the Garden and Storytime in the Garden.
Before I return to my labor (and the occasional glance at the clouds outside my window), I’d like to remind you that some things definitely come to an end in September. Dan Torop‘s exhibition, Frozen Period, closes on September 20, and our final late Wednesday (open until 7:30 pm) is September 30.
Please scroll down for all September details.
September events, arranged chronologically:
Tuesdays, September 8 and September 22, 2015 – 10:30-11:30 am
TUESDAYS IN THE GARDEN: AN OUTING FOR PARENTS & VERY SMALL CHILDREN
The 40 acres that house the Lynden collection of monumental outdoor sculpture are also home to many birds, insects, frogs, mammals and plants. Naturalist Naomi Cobb offers a nature program that explores a different theme each month, taking into account the changing seasons, and provides an opportunity for those with very small children to engage in outdoor play and manipulation of art materials. The theme for September is bird friends.
Sunday, September 13, 2015, 10 am-1 pm
FIVE ANIMAL SPORTS: A BEGINNING QIGONG WORKSHOP WITH ANGELA LAUGHINGHEART
Qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system that integrates physical postures, breathing techniques and focused intention. Five Animal Sports is part of that classic Chinese health tradition. As we experience seasonal weather changes our internal energy can get out of balance, leading to discomfort and ailments. Using the natural spirit and graceful movements of the iconic five animals, each representing one of the five seasons of the year (bird/autumn, bear/late summer, ape/summertime, tiger/spring, and deer/winter), we prepare our bodies for the changes of the oncoming season. No experience necessary, just wear comfortable clothing and flexible footgear, or tread on the grass with bare feet for maximum Qi exchange. Angela Laughingheart has been teaching Tai Chi and Qigong since 1998.
Sunday, September 13, 2015 – 1-5 pm
grow WORKSHOP WITH YEVGENIYA KAGANOVICH
Yevgeniya Kaganovich and her student assistants take up residence in the studio to make the next “planting” of grow, Kaganovich’s durational installation. Drop in to watch or participate as Kaganovich fuses the layers of plastic to create a surface similar to leather or skin, molds the skin into plant-like volumes, stuffs the volumes with more bags, and connects the forms with plastic bag “thread.” Tasks include cutting sheets and strips; fusing sheets and tubes; sewing bulb forms and connecting them to bases; crocheting tubes and necks; stuffing stalks; and assembling the plants.
Monday, September 14, 2015 – 9 am-4 pm (late pickup available)
SCHOOL’S OUT WORKSHOP: HARVEST
Fall is a time of harvest. From fruits, seeds and leaves, to people and animals, all is in transition as we pass from summer to winter. Harvesting is a kind of collecting, and we will make sculptures from natural materials–beeswax, seeds, pebbles–some of which we will collect ourselves. For ages 6-11.
September 16-December 16, 2015
Wednesdays, 2:30-5 pm
WEEKLY ART DROP-IN FOR KIDS AGED 6-12
Drop into our studio for informal art exploration. Come for 30 minutes or stay for 2 1/2 hours; visit weekly or stop by when you need an after-school activity; bring a friend or sibling or try it on your own. Each week we’ll introduce different materials, processes and themes, and get you started on a project. We’ll focus on three-dimensional artmaking–though we will also do plenty of painting, drawing and collaging–and make use of Lynden’s special resources: the collection of monumental sculpture and 40 acres of park, lake and woodland.
Saturday, September 19, 2015 – 12 noon-5 pm
DOG DAYS AT LYNDEN
Enjoy a walk among the sculptures at Lynden. Dogs must be leashed and considerate of other visitors, canine and human.
Sunday, September 20, 2015 – 10:30 am- 11:45 am
STORY TIME IN THE GARDEN: A MONTHLY OUTING FOR PARENTS AND SMALL CHILDREN
Join naturalist Naomi Cobb for a monthly parent/child story hour in Lynden’s special corners. We begin with a short exploratory hike to a destination chosen to reflect our theme. Following the story, we will make a small art project to celebrate our discoveries. Designed for parents or grandparents and children from 20 months through age 5. The theme for September is bird friends.
Monday, September 21, 2015 – 10 am-4 pm
PRIMITIVE RAKU: A CERAMICS WORKSHOP WITH KATHERYN CORBIN
In the past, Native Americans probably made clay vessels on what are now the grounds of Lynden. In these pre-glaze days, pots were sealed by rubbing river mud into the surfaces, sealing the goodness in the container. We will spend a fall day at Lynden with ceramic artist Katheryn Corbin forming vessels using traditional techniques: pinching, coiling, and smoothing. Instead of river mud, we will use sigellatta, a form of deflocculated clay to seal our pots. After bisque firing, Corbin will return to Lynden for a smoke firing. The smoke blackens the pots, leaving them with a subtle, shining finish. (Attendance at smoke firing voluntary.)
Saturday, September 26, 2015 – 10 am-4 pm
SHIBORI WITH NATURAL DYES: A WORKSHOP WITH JAMIE LEA BERTSCH
Shibori is an ancient Japanese resist-dye technique that involves creasing, folding, binding, and knotting to create beautiful patterns. In this workshop, you’ll begin by making the dyes (some of them sourced from your own kitchen or garden), and will then learn the basics of Shibori to make a scarf or set of striking tea towels. We’ll be making use of Lynden’s 40 beautiful acres during our breaks, and dyeing fabric outside, weather permitting.
Sunday, September 27, 2015 – 12:30-2:30 pm
FAMILY WORKSHOP: FALL FOLIAGE SUNCATCHERS
Winter is coming and the days are getting shorter–a perfect time to make a colorful suncatcher from a garland of pressed foliage. Choose from the natural materials we have on hand or collect your own leaves from the grounds to create your own unique composition. Take your suncatcher home and hang it in a sunny window to bring some color into the dark winter months.
DISTANCE
Exhibition: September 28-October 11, 2015
Performances: October 10 & October 11 at 4 pm (tickets on sale now)
As part of her yearlong residency, Pegi Christiansen invited Theresa Columbus (Baltimore, Maryland), John Loscuito (Naples, Florida) and Jennifer Holmes (Whittier, California) to collaborate with her on a performance and exhibition at Lynden. Each month, beginning in September 2014, the artists shot self-portraits at dawn and created visual and written exquisite corpses. In August, they came together at Lynden to develop a site-sensitive performance based on their far-flung collaboration. Inspired by the Surrealist embodiment of chance, Distance explores place, relationships, and memory.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015 – 7:00pm-9:00pm
WOMEN’S SPEAKER SERIES:
P.S. DUFFY, AUTHOR OF THE CARTOGRAPHER OF NO MAN’S LAND
Lynden Sculpture Garden, Bronze Optical, and Boswell Books welcome P.S. Duffy, author of The Cartographer of No Man’s Land, to the Lynden Sculpture Garden’s Women’s Speaker Series. Duffy draws on her 35 summers spent sailing in Nova Scotia, where her family roots go back to 1754, for this debut novel about a family divided by World War I. From a hardscrabble village in Nova Scotia to the collapsing trenches of France, this astonishing debut leaps across the Atlantic, between a father at war and a son coming of age at home without him. With the intimacy of The Song of Achilles and the epic scope of The Invisible Bridge, The Cartographer of No Man’s Land offers a soulful portrayal of World War I and the lives that were forever changed by it, both on the battlefield and at home. Join us for wine, snacks, conversation–and take home a signed copy of the book.
COMING UP IN OCTOBER
In addition to our regular activities (our last Story Time in the Garden of the season on Oct. 4, Tuesdays in the Garden on Oct. 6 and Oct. 20, the weekly Art Drop-In on Wednesdays, a Family Workshop on Oct. 11, Dog Day on Oct. 17, and a grow workshop on Oct. 25) we will be continuing our series of School’s Out Workshops (Harvest is the topic on Oct. 12 and Bones on Oct. 23 and Oct. 30 ) and offering our first Homeschool Day of the season on Oct. 15. Matt Cook, Milwaukee’s poet laureate, leads a writing workshop on Oct. 3, and artists-in-residence Pat Hidson and Tori Tasch invite you to help them gather wild seeds for spring planting on the same day. Another artist-in-residence, Pegi Christiansen, summons her far-flung collaborators for two Distance performances on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11. Katheryn Corbin offers another installment of Primitive Raku on Oct. 17; Andy Yencha, our new land manager, begins a series of workshops on environmentally friendly landscaping on Oct. 24; and Naomi Cobb takes us on a Harvest Moon Walk on Oct. 30. October 18 is our annual Educators’ Free Day, and Sharon Morrisey will also lead a fall tree walk that day. And a new exhibition, Scott Wolniak: Landscape Record, opens with a reception on Oct. 25.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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