Director's Note 4/1/13
The snow is gone from the lawns at Lynden, but the Big Lake and Little Lake are still frozen (perhaps this will be our last opportunity to see Roy Staab’s Chiral Formation anchored in ice rather than in the water?). I can see the buds on the magnolias outside my window, and our neighbors tell us that the wood ducks have returned to the Milwaukee River. I’m sure close looking—of the sort that naturalist Naomi Cobb will be doing with our new monthly parent-and-small-child group, or as part of her May workshop, or during her spring field trip program —would reveal more signs of life. It’s warm enough to clear ash trees but too cold to plant, bright and sunny enough to make you consider walking outside without your jacket.
April is often unpredictable. The brave teachers who sign up for early tours know that they may be slogging through mud (or snow), or fortunate enough to spend a few hours outdoors on a beautiful day. Even the warmth of the sun makes a difference—when out-of-town visitors from the Southern Graphics Council print conference came up for a visit a week ago, they were happy to wander outside and see Ashley Janke’s new nAbr gallery exhibition, a print installation by Patrick Sharrow. We’ll all be warm inside when Jessica Hagy drops by on Wednesday night to talk about her new book, How to Be Interesting, and on Sunday, when we open Rappaccini’s Daughter, an exhibition of work by weaver Sheila Held, with a late afternoon reception. Rappaccini’s Daughter is the first in a series of occasional exhibitions that explore Women, Nature and Science.
We are hoping for some seasonal weather on April 21 for Kites Over Lynden. Now in its third year, we’ve expanded the idea beyond kite-making and kite-flying to include plein-air painting, an interview with artist Sheila Held by Nicholas Frank, and the launch of a year-long residency with Kim Miller. Miller will be undertaking the first of several performances that will be part of her project Theater of Heavy Clouds.
Summer camps are filling up and brochures are in if you’d like some to hand out. Because we think this is going to be a busy camp season, we’re seeking applicants for a Summer Art Education Internship. Thanks to the MPS Arts Internship Program, this is a paid position. Applicants must be at least 16 years of age, enrolled in an MPS high school and/or a resident of the City of Milwaukee.
We still have a few spots open in our Silk Scarf Painting Workshop on June 9, and early bird discounts remain in effect for the 2013 UWM Art Education Institute: Attentive Living: Art, Nature, Place and Sally Duback’s Dimensional Papermaking Workshop.
