January Events at the Lynden Sculpture Garden

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 January, the Lynden Sculpture Garden is open daily from 10 am-5 pm (closed Thursdays). Thanks to the generosity of our donors, admission is free. For complete information on events, visitor guidelines, and everything that goes on at Lynden, visit www.lyndensculpturegarden.org.

A NOTE ON ICE SKATING

We will offer ice skating on one of the ponds at Lynden on Saturdays and Sundays when weather and ice conditions permit. Please visit us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/LyndenSculptureGarden) for ice skating updates.

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EXHIBITIONS: GALLERY

CALL & RESPONSE: ASMAA WALTON AND THE BLACK ART LIBRARY

Through February 28, 2025

More information: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/exhibitions/asmaa-walton-and-black-art-library

Call & Response: Asmaa Walton and the Black Art Library is a public humanities project that asks how we create, share, and preserve cultural memory for a more complete and accessible cultural record. A Detroit native and developer of the Black cultural archive, Asmaa Walton noticed a conspicuous gap in the mainstream narration of art history around Black art and artists when she was training as an art educator and then working in museums. In 2020 she launched the Library, a collection of publications, exhibition catalogues, theoretical texts, and research materials about Black art and visual culture. Its mission is straightforward: “Black Art Library is a collection of books and other art history ephemera on Black visual art intended to be an educational resource to share within the Black community and beyond. The Library’s mission is to introduce or expand the community’s knowledge of Black art from the past and the present through art books.”

Walton aligns her project with other libraries that are vital community spaces and she places herself in the lineage of librarians as agents of change. Black Art Library will be in residence in Lynden’s gallery for four months. The gallery, an emphatically domestic space that was once a living room, is an ideal setting for this temporary community gathering place that functions as an interactive, participatory archive. Visitors can examine books and materials at their leisure. When she is in Milwaukee, Walton will keep “library hours” during which she will be available to engage with visitors and recommend books—she returns in February. The public is invited, while the Library is in residence, to donate mission-appropriate items to this growing archive. This project is funded in part by a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

WORKSHOPS & EVENTS

NEW YEAR SOUND BATH & FUTURE-SELF LETTER WRITING WORKSHOP

Friday, January 3, 2025 – 6-7:30 pm

Fee: $30/$25 members. Pre-registration required.

More information and to register: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/new-year-sound-bath

Begin your New Year with artist-in-residence Jenna Knapp and sound facilitator Sevan Arabajian-Ries as they continue their ongoing collaborative events indoors for the winter. This event will take place in the gallery, where participants will be surrounded by Asmaa Walton’s Black Art Library. Inspired by the cyclical nature of the labyrinth, Jenna will begin the evening with a short guided meditation to help us connect with our future selves before Sevan leads the sound bath. After the sound bath, guests are invited to write a letter to their future selves, envisioning what they want to create between January 2025 and January 2026. By collapsing time and inviting the future into the present moment, we can zoom out and witness our desires from a different angle.

HOME BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

Thursday, January 16, 2025 – 7-8 pm ***VIRTUAL***

FREE.

More information and to register:

https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/home-book-discussion-group-2024

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. In January we finish My American Dream: A Journey from Fascism to Freedom by Barbara Sommer Feigin. Newcomers welcome!

DOG DAYS AT LYNDEN

Saturday, January 18, 2025 – 10 am-4 pm

FREE.

More information: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/dog-days-2025

Bring your canine friends for a wintry walk. Dogs must be leashed and considerate of other visitors, canine and human.

CREATIVE TIME FOR FAMILIES: POLYMER CLAY CREATIONS

Sunday, January 19, 2025 – 12:30-2:30 pm

Fee: $15/$10 member per family (all materials included). All ages are welcome; children younger than 12 should attend with an adult.

More information and to register: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/creative-time-winter-2025

During the winter and spring, we will be offering monthly drop-in workshops for families. Stop by for engaging, hands-on activities that bring art and nature to life. Whether you make a quick visit or stay the entire two hours, count on spending some quality creative time with family and friends. Design and sculpt your own colorful charms using polymer clay. Learn simple techniques for shaping, texturing, and blending colors to craft unique pieces that can be used for jewelry, keychains and more.

HOLDING MEMORY: CLAY RELIQUARIES – A WORKSHOP FOR AGES 12 AND UP

Monday, January 20, 2025 – 11 am-4:30 pm

Fee: $85/$68 members. Pre-registration required.

More information and to register: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/clay-reliquaries

Explore how art preserves memory in this hands-on workshop with Jeremy Stepien. Participants will reflect on meaningful moments and translate them into personal reliquaries—vessels that honor and protect memories. Through bookmaking, clay, and wax this creative experience connects the past with the future, blending storytelling with symbolism. If you want to come early to browse or curl up with a book in the Black Art Library, we open our doors at 10 am.

13th ANNUAL WINTER CARNIVAL

Saturday, January 25, 2025– 10 am-4 pm

More information: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/13th-annual-winter-carnival

Lynden welcomes winter with a day of outdoor art-making, scavenger hunts, tree-walks, workshops, and whatever other winter activities–ice skating, painting the pond, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing–the weather permits. Orchestrated by our Teachers-in-Residence, Katie Hobday, Hattie Grimm, and Ali Berry— our highly participatory, artist-driven carnival offers something for everybody. Pedro’s South American Food Truck will be onsite selling an array of Latin American snacks, lunch items, and hot drinks. The Winter Carnival is sponsored by Davey Tree Expert.

FALL PROGRAMS FOR THE YOUNG AND VERY YOUNG

ART + NATURE LAB

Thursdays, January 16-February 27, 20245 – 3:30-5:30 pm

Ages 7-11

Fee: $154/$112 members per 7-week session

More information and to register: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/art-nature-lab-ages-7-11

Lynden’s Art + Nature Lab engages participants aged 7-11 in inquiry-based art and nature learning, problem solving, and creative making. Over the course of each seven-week session, art educator Jeremy Stepien will take you on a series of art challenges and studio projects. Art + Nature Lab will meet indoors in the studio at Lynden with occasional excursions in the garden.

TUESDAYS IN THE GARDEN FOR PARENTS & VERY SMALL CHILDREN

Tuesday, January 28 – 10:30 am-11:30 am

Sessions meet outdoors.

Fee: $16/$12 members for one adult and one child.

More information and to register:

https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/tuesdays-in-the-garden

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. Tuesdays in the Garden meets once in January and the theme is Signs of Winter.

SUMMER CAMPS AT THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND NATURE—REGISTRATION OPENS IN JANUARY

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. Information and registration will be posted in January.

NOHL FELLOWSHIP EVENTS

Supporting artists is a at the core of Lynden’s mission. One of the ways that we support artists is by administering a range of grant programs for artists: the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists, the Suitcase Export Fund, and the Ruth Arts Mary L Nohl Alumni Awards. Watch for the announcement of the 2025 Nohl Fellowship winners in January.

COMING UP IN FEBRUARY

In February we will announce the second cohort of Ruth Arts Mary L. Nohl Alumni Awardees, a program open to former Nohl Fellows. The Black Art Library remains on view in the gallery through February 28—stop in to browse or read—and Asmaa Walton will be back in residence for the first two weeks of the month. Watch for her schedule of library hours. The next (indoor) Sound Bath with artist-in-residence Jenna Knapp and Sevan Arabajian-Ries is scheduled for February 12. Dog Day is February 15; bring your dog in the daytime and then return at 6 pm for Lynden by Night, a walk beneath the snow moon with Claudia Orjuela. The HOME Refugee Book Discussion group starts a new book, Aednan, by Linnea Axelsson, on February 20. Tuesdays in the Garden meets twice in February (on the 18th and 25th), and Claudia also offers another installment of Creative Time for Families on the 9th: we’ll be making upcycled wind chimes.

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.lyndensculpturegarden.org/visit. Annual memberships are also available.

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.