Director's Note 2nd Anniversary

Sometimes it’s difficult to believe that Lynden has been open for two years—though whether it feels longer or shorter is the question, the answer varying by day. We’ve certainly been open long enough to establish a rhythm—events are coming around for a second time; we know what snacks to order for gallery openings--and a small but growing audience (you!). At the same time, the improvisations and occasional chaos of the first months are never too distant: we are always trying out the new, fixing what’s broken, responding to crises natural and manmade. We continue to enjoy making things up in the company of our patrons, colleagues and visiting artists.

We will spend the afternoon of Sunday, June 3 celebrating our second anniversary, and we’d like you to join us. With such an early spring, I imagine that gardens will be safely planted, and that you will be free to come over sometime between noon and 5 pm. It will be a typically eclectic event, as good for doers as for observers, for artists as for naturalists. There will be music from the Painted Caves from 1-3 pm, our first outdoor yoga class of the season from 1-2:30 pm, and a tree walk with Sharon Morrisey of UW-Extension at 3 pm.

For the artists among you—children, adults, neophytes and seasoned professionals--we open the garden for plein air painting. We’ll be providing plein-air pointers and lending out watercolor kits, so even if you’ve never lifted a brush or considered making art in the open air, you can set up an easel or a board and capture Lynden on paper. Bring a chair and an umbrella and settle in!

When you’ve had enough of the outdoors you will be able to spend some time with Gos Sa Mer: Santiago Cucullu + Ester Partegàs, our new exhibition, or you can watch Something New for the Rose Garden, a film made at Lynden in 1982 by Dennis Darmek and Patsy Tully. You can contemplate purchasing one of Cucullu’s dazzling prints or Partegàs’s hand-painted T-shirts, and you can sit in the cool darkness of the screening room and listen to the observations of Lynden’s long-time and legendary gardener, Carl Urban. He explains what the invasion of sculptures (more than 50 between 1962 and 1978) felt like to the person who cared for the landscape, and how he came to terms with the interlopers. It’s a kick just to see what the place looked like 30 years ago.

Finally, we will provide delicious cookies from Amaranth Bakery to supplement your picnic or revive you after your exertions. Maybe some lemonade?

See you on the 3rd,

Polly