Home: A Family Free Day Celebrating Milwaukee’s Refugee Communities, this Saturday at Lynden

Home is the theme for a community-led Family Free Day at the Lynden Sculpture Garden on Saturday, June 22, 2019, from 10 am-4pm. The sculpture garden is located at 2145 West Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee, WI 53217. This free outdoor festival celebrates Milwaukee’s refugee communities through art, food, and performance. We invite you to come to the table and to leave with your bellies and hearts full.

Coordinated by artist-in-residence Kim Khaira and Rohingya refugee leader Hasinah Begum, working together with other refugee community leaders, community members, Call & Response artists, and allies, we are building a space of leading, of coming together, and of celebrating refugees.

Free bus transportation will be provided between Lynden and four pickup points on the north and south sides of Milwaukee: South Division High School, 1515 W. Latham Boulevard (parking lot); Harrison Park, 2567 S. 12th St.; behind the Islamic Society of Milwaukee (pick-up is 4961 S. 14th St.); Bethune Academy, 1535 N. 35th St. (parking lot).

For a complete schedule of performances and speakers, a list of exhibitors, and more information on bus transportation, please visit: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/home.

Plan to spend the day at Lynden. Visitors are welcome to roam the grounds, visit the Bonsai Exhibit, and explore our indoor and outdoor exhibitions. Bring a picnic to enjoy under the trees. Water and soda will be available for purchase.

• Sample food, crafts, and performances under the big tent or on Lynden’s grounds
• Try wax-resist dyeing with Arianne King Comer and take home a T-shirt
• Make “home” buttons and view images of “home” submitted by community members
• Draw ethnic dolls with Evelyn Patricia Terry
• Learn about seed sovereignty from Angela Kingsawan and participate in a seed exchange
• Take a bird walk with Chuck Stebelton or tour the labyrinth with Jenna Knapp
• Visit the henna booth for some adornment
• Learn about refugee wellness activities (and have your blood pressure screened)
• Take a break in our book corner for some story time and to sign up for Milwaukee Public Library’s Summer Reading Program
• Learn about refugee services, volunteer opportunities, and the 2020 census

Participants include Abebech Jima (Ethiopia); Arianne King Comer (Call & Response); Asian Food Market (Burma); Angela Kingsawan, Yanepa Herbs & CORE/El Centro; Arthur Edumakono Zetho, Zetho Foundation (Somali); Aurora Walker’s Point Community Center; Catholic Charities; Chuck Stebelton (Lynden artist-in-residence); Eric Kleppe, Palante Visuals; Evelyn Patricia Terry (Call & Response); Frey Faris (Africa); Golden Melody Music Band (U.S.A) & Moe Aung (Burma); Hanan Refugee Relief (Syrian community & Palestinian community); Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)/Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC); Henna Multicultural Booth (Somali & Rohingya);Hmong American Women’s Association (HAWA), Paul Vang, & Ashley Xiong; International Institute of Wisconsin; Jamaluddin Bin Sayedullah (Rohingya); Jenna Knapp (Lynden artist-in-residence); Jennat Begum (Myanmar & Malaysia); Jewish Family Services; Kassim Hussein Rajab, Madision Refugee Union (Congo); Khatizha Syed Dollah, Hasna Mohd Ali & Hasinah Begum Ashraf Mia (Rohingya); LUNA –Latinas Unidas En Las Artes; Mekele Aden (Eritrea); Milwaukee Health Department; Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition/Islamic Resource Center; Milwaukee Public Library-Tippecanoe Library; MTO Shahmaghsoudi-Milwaukee (Sufism); National Council of Jewish Women-Milwaukee; Nyota Musimbwa; Portia Cobb (Call & Response); Public Allies Milwaukee; Rohingya children’s Nasyid led by Rahena Binti Aziz Rahman; Scott Barton (Call & Response); SEA Literacy; Social Security Administration; South Division Multicultural Club; Sumeya Osman & Madina Moyo (Somalia); Tables Across Borders, Kai Mishlove.

This is a Call & Response event. Call & Response is a cumulative project that gathers a community of artists who share a commitment to the radical Black imagination as a means to re-examine the past and imagine a better future. Returning participants include textile artist Arianne King Comer, choreographer Reggie Wilson, interdisciplinary artist Portia Cobb, and chef and food scholar Scott Alves Barton. In 2019, we build the Call & Response community through residencies, exhibitions, performances, educational and public programs, and collaborations and site visits with new artists: visual artists Evelyn Patricia Terry and Rosemary Ollison; artist-in-residence and community organizer Kim Khaira; visual artist Daniel Minter; and performance collective Propelled Animals.

About the Lynden Sculpture Garden
The Lynden Sculpture Garden offers a unique experience of art in nature through its collection of more than 50 monumental sculptures sited across 40 acres of park, lake and woodland. The sculpture garden is open to art and nature lovers of all ages daily, 10 am-5 pm; until 7:30 pm on Wednesday evenings in the summer; closed Thursdays. Admission to the sculpture garden is $9 for adults and $7 for students and seniors; children under 6 and members are free. Annual memberships are also available.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.