January at Lynden

The first days of 2020 have been quiet at Lynden, with a handful of visitors and the strange feeling of emptiness that comes when a show—in this case, Rosemary Ollison’s–has been deinstalled and the next one is not yet up. We will be working on Robert Murray: The Working Models this week, and the echoing emptiness, a forlorn tag in one corner and a clip stranded mid-floor, will be replaced by several vibrant sculptures and a series of prints. You are welcome to come up and see it beginning January 12, and we particularly hope you return at the end of March to hear the artist and curator Jonathan Lippincott talk about the work.

There has been a steady of hum of work indoors. Thank-you letters have been going out to those who so generously donated to our annual campaign at the end of 2019, and to whom we are extremely grateful. Audit files are beginning to fatten, gallery walls and hallways are being touched up, and the paper shredder has been working overtime as we bid the old year goodbye. If there’s a loud point in the day, it comes around 4:30 pm, when we have been treated to a series of brief but stunning sunsets—the incendiary pinks draining out of the sky as fast as they flooded in, to be replaced by deep evening violets.

Michael Lagerman has been assembling the program for our 10th Annual Winter Carnival. He has invited British artist Richard Shilling for a residency and land art project, as well as enlisting many local artists for a day of family-friendly participatory activities. We are pleased to be able to make this year’s carnival one of four family free days in 2020, so pack up your kids and friends and enjoy a winter day at Lynden. (And if you happen to know of a food truck that would be willing to provide lunch and snacks, we’d be delighted to hear about it.)

While we often go easy on the programming in January as we prepare for the carnival and allow everyone to recover from the ardors of the holiday season, there are days like January 19 when, if you aren’t already worn out by taking your canine to dog day on the 18th, and if you time it right, you could join our teachers-in-residence, Sue Pezanoski Browne and Katie Hobday, as they work on their Sound Tree Project; make incense with artist Mike Paré; and then make a lantern and take it out for a spin during our annual Light Up the Garden event. Near the tail end of the month, on January 26, Leslie Perrino kicks off an ambitious series of jewelry-making workshops. This first one focuses on resin pendants—just check out the pictures online to see the possibilities.

The weekly art drop-ins resume the week of January 6 (watch for a brand new drop-in for the very young in early February), and a homeschool day on January 16. We open the studio from 12-5 pm on January 20 for an extended hours art drop-in, too.

January events, arranged chronologically:

January 8, 15, 22, 29 – Wednesdays, 3-5:30 pm
WEEKLY ART DROP-IN FOR KIDS AGED 11 and Up
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.

January 9, 16, 23, 30 – Thursdays, 2:30-5 pm
WEEKLY ART DROP-IN FOR KIDS AGED 6-11
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.

Thursday, January 16, 2020– 9 am-2 pm
HOMESCHOOL DAY: COLLECTIVE BECOMING
What stories, questions, and connections can emerge from a shared activity like cooking a meal or sewing together? Taking a lead from artist Lee Mingwei, and his Dining and Mending projects, we will design spaces for collective interactions. Outside, we will share favorite recipes and design a meal of local food that we’ll cook over a fire. In the studio, we’ll trade ripped or damaged clothing with a mending partner. As we mend these articles of clothing, we’ll learn about ourselves and each other by sharing stories about the clothes and how they were damaged. Ages 6-15.

Saturday, January 18, 2020 – 10 am-5 pm
DOG DAYS AT LYNDEN
Bring your canine friends for an afternoon of romping in the garden. In the winter, cross-country skiers and snowshoers also welcome. Dogs must be leashed and considerate of other visitors, canine and human.

Sunday, January 19, 2020 – 12:30pm – 2:30pm
FAMILY DROP-IN WORKSHOP: THE SOUND TREE PROJECT
Sue Pezanoski Browne and Katie Hobday, Lynden’s teachers-in-residence, invite you to participate in the Sound Tree Project, the focus of their collaborative artist residency. Working in a grove of trees on the Lynden grounds, Pezanoski Browne and Hobday are constructing an environment filled with clay chimes that they make and fill with personal narratives. This exploration of art, nature, memory, and materials is informed by their thinking about movement and migration—about life as movement interspersed with pauses of various lengths.

Sunday, January 19, 2020 – 1-4 pm
AROMA ARTS: AN INCENSE-MAKING WORKSHOP WITH MIKE PARÉ
Learn the basics of making your own natural incense. This workshop introduces a Japanese style of incense-making using traditional materials. Artist Mike Paré, founder of Zouz Incense, a natural incense company, draws from the history of incense to introduce students to a variety of aromatic herbs, spices, tree resins, and powders; discusses the philosophy of fragrance formation; and teaches participants to roll cones or joss sticks. Each participant will finish the workshop with 12-20 pieces of incense.

Sunday, January 19, 2020 – 3-6:30 pm
LIGHT UP THE GARDEN & LYNDEN BY NIGHT
What better way to experience Lynden in the winter than by lantern light? Join Jeremy Stepien in the art studio beginning at 3 pm for this popular annual family workshop and make a lantern (or bring your own). At 5 pm we embark on a lantern-lit walk through the garden, led by Robert Kaleta. He will guide you safely through Lynden’s back acres, introducing you to the mysteries and unique features of outdoor life after dark. We’ll end with a bonfire and hot cider.

Monday, January 20, 2020 – 12-5 pm
SCHOOL’S OUT ART DROP-IN FOR KIDS AGED 6 AND UP
We are offering a special, extended drop-in session for those off school. Drop into our studio for informal art exploration. Come for 30 minutes or stay for 5 hours; bring a friend or sibling or try it on your own.

Saturday, January 25, 2020 – 10 am-4 pm
FREE FAMILY DAY: 10th ANNUAL WINTER CARNIVAL
Lynden welcomes winter with a day of outdoor art-making, studio activities, scavenger hunts, tours and tree-walks, and whatever other winter activities–ice skating, painting the pond, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing–the weather permits. Orchestrated by Michael Lagerman, our highly participatory, artist-driven carnival offers something for everybody and will feature a large-scale land art project from artist Richard Shilling.

Sunday, January 26, 2020 – 10 am-4 pm
RESIN PENDANTS: A JEWELRY WORKSHOP WITH LESLIE PERRINO
Participants will produce a series of pendants by collaging materials and covering them in resin. First, you’ll make a mini-collage by choosing from a large selection of decorative papers, photos, and small objects–charms, beads, shells, etc.—and arranging them in a diminutive pendant tray. Then the tray will be filled with clear resin and will harden into a unique pendant. The possibilities are endless! Learn how to prep and reduce bubble formation to get lovely results and expect to bring home at least four pendants by the end of the day. Students are encouraged to bring their own materials and mementos, or collect items on Lynden’s grounds, if desired. No experience required, and all materials supplied. Bring a bag lunch and beverages, and dress for the weather if you would like to do some outdoor collecting.

COMING UP IN FEBRUARY

We launch our new art drop-in for the very young on February 6; at that point we will be offering three age-appropriate drop-ins each week. Tuesdays in the Garden also resumes, and the theme for February is artful snow. Sue Pezanoski Browne and Katie Hobday, our teachers-in-residence, continue their work on the Sound Tree Project during a drop-in family workshop on February 16. There are plenty of making workshops in February: Katheryn Corbin will guide you through the process of making a love plate in her two-part majolica workshop (February 1 & 8); John Holzwart will teach you how to make whisk brooms (February 2); Angela Kingsawan invites you to cook up an herbal cold and flu remedy (February 9); Leslie Perrino offers an enameling jewelry-making workshop on February 23; and Kim Khaira pulls out our dye pot for two workshops exploring batik with natural dyes (February 25 & 29). We host the third in our series of Conversations on Displacement and the Arts (February 15) and the Women’s Speaker Series welcomes Mary Kubica, author of The Other Mrs. (February 25). For those who want to spend time outdoors, Lynden educator Claudia Orjuela leads a Lynden by Night moon walk on February 8, dogs have their day on February 15, and we will all be eyeing the pond for ice-skating opportunities.

Consider starting the year at Lynden,

Polly
1/5/20

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.