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February 2012

February 5, 2012 - 3:00pm - 5:00pm

Gary John Gresl & Valerie Christell's Mound of Being - Disintegration

The Lynden Sculpture Garden hosts the Wisconsin Visual Artists juried exhibition featuring the works of WVA Southeast Chapter members. The exhibition is juried by Fo Wilson, Assistant Professor at Columbia College in Chicago.

Wilson chose 32 works by 26 artists. Taking the location of the exhibition at Lynden as her starting point, Wilson focused on sculptural form. The sculptures chosen range from intimate tabletop pieces to large outdoor works. When selecting two-dimensional work, Wilson identified “paintings, prints and drawings that had a winter theme or responded well to the beautiful grounds of the site.”

Participating artists incude Rïse Andersen, Diane Anderson, Allen Caucutt, Dara Chappie, Valerie J. Christell (with a solo work and a collaborative installation with Gary John Gresl), Dagmara Costello, Sally Duback, Audrey Dulmes, Tom Eddington, Pat Hidson, Angela Laughingheart, Darron Lillian, Jim Maki, Gene Mihleisen, Gary Niebuhr, Sandra Nowicki, Mark Overs, Kris Reicher, David Sear, Colette Odya Smith, Jean D. Sobon, Jane Boller Stoebel, Tori Tasch, Bilhenry Walker and Rochelle Whiteman.

Four prizes were awarded: Rïse Andersen, “Roundabout” (First Prize), Diane Anderson, “Death of the Garter” (Second Prize), Valerie J. Christell & Gary John Gresl, “Mound of Being – Disintegration” (Third Prize), and Gary Niebuhr, “Horse Flies” (Merchandise Award).

The work hangs throughout the first floor of the house and includes two works on the patio.

About Fo Wilson
Fo Wilson graduated with an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design’s Furniture Design program in 2005 with a concentration in Art history, Theory and Criticism. Prior to her graduate studies, she ran her own graphic design consultancy with offices in New York and the San Francisco Bay area. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Columbia College in Chicago, and previously taught at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Massachusetts and Dartmouth, as well as the California College of Art (formerly CCAC) and Parsons School of Design. She writes and lectures about art, design and craft to international audiences. Her furniture-based work is exhibited nationally, and her design work is included in the collection of The Cooper Hewitt National Museum of Design.

About Wisconsin Visual Artists
Wisconsin Visual Artists (WVA) is a not-for-profit membership-based organization made up of visual artists working in a wide variety of media and supporters of Wisconsin Art. They are united to advance opportunities and services for artists and the general public, and are committed to the importance and value of art and its creation in our society.

Second Annual Winter Carnival

February 11, 2012 - 10:00am - 4:00pm

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden. Family passes are $15 in advance (call 414.446.8794) or $20 at the door.

Lynden welcomes winter with a day of outdoor art-making, studio activities, tours and tree-walks, and whatever winter activities the weather permits. Sara Caron (last year’s You Snow Grand Prize winner) and Ashley Janke are planning a garden-wide Capture the Flag tournament, with artist-made flags and artist-run checkpoints, and a half-time performance,and they have invited Mexico City-based artist Gitte Bog to create a new food-based, site-responsive project for the tournament’s tailgate. The art studio will be open for Valentine-making in the morning and candle-making in the afternoon, and we’ll be painting the pond again! Watch or participate on foot, skis, snowshoes or skates (bring your own).

We’re beginning to fill in the details, and will continue to add information below.

Winter Carnival Guest Artist Gitte Bog

Gitte Bog is a Danish artist who lives and works in Mexico City. Her social art practice is site- and context-responsive and participatory in nature, and she thinks of it as a platform for dialogue. Bog is interested in the poetic possibilities in everyday materials, activities and places. Inspired by traditional work methods, hobbies and celebrations, she explores identity, memory, history, cultural differences (and similarities) and language. Singing, dancing, knitting, cooking, talking, walking and planting seeds have all found their way into her work, which takes different forms: live art, video, audio and installation. Bog finds some everyday activities simultaneously fascinating and frustrating; by resetting their rules or creating rituals of her own, she questions the authoritarian presence that often masks these benign activities. Fusion and chance are central elements in her work.

For her project at Lynden, Bog invites you to participate in two simple surveys that will allow her to learn more about Milwaukee, its food, and its citizens. She will respond to this data with two hot soups (one that represents Milwaukee as it is, the other redolent of our desires) and bread wrapped in messages. The surveys are here:

Food Survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VFT6723
Milwaukee Survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VNZBMPF

We will take them down on Wednesday, February 8 at midnight so that Bog will have time to digest their contents!

Bog obtained her degrees in visual arts in London, where she lived for more than ten years. She has been awarded several residencies and commissions and her work is shown in galleries in Europe and the Americas. She is the co-founder of two organizations in Mexico City that offer local communities free art workshops and other cultural activities. More info: www.gb09.com/

Capture the Flag Tournament & Checkpoint Projects

According to Sara Caron and Ashley Janke, who had to explain the game to Gitte Bog, Capture the Flag originated with the Boy Scouts. Here’s how they explained it:

Typically, the game consists of two teams. Each has a flag and a designated territory. The goal is to sneak over to the other team's territory to steal their flag. If a member of one team catches a player from the other team on their territory, they can tag them and that player then has to wait in a designated jail area until they are rescued by being tagged by one of their own teammates.

Our goal in organizing the game is to blur the definition of art a bit, to take something familiar--in this case a game one might have played as a child--and to recontextualize it as an art event. We’d like participants to have fun, but also to recognize the creative potential of their daily life.

For our tournament, we’ve added a few wrinkles to broaden the experience. The two core teams will consist of local artists, and each team will have multiple flags that they have designed. We will designate a playing area across the garden, and divide it between the teams. Visitors will be assigned to teams as they arrive, and in addition to (or instead of) participating in the game, they can earn points for their team by taking part in the scheduled activities (tours, studio activities, painting the pond, Gitte’s project) and in artist-designed Checkpoint Projects. Checkpoint Projects may include plein air painting stations and snow sculpture stations (if there’s snow), and Checkpoint hosts include Richard Galling, another winner in last year’s You Snow competition.

The Pond Is Our Canvas

Artists of all ages are invited to participate in this collaborative project. Using non-toxic food coloring, we will be making a large-scale painting on the little pond.

Studio Art Activities

These activities are designed as drop-ins and are open to all ages (young children may need parental assistance).

10 am–1 pm: French Fold Valentines
Create a pop-up Valentine by decorating a piece of paper and then artfully cutting and folding. 2D-Valentine makers also welcome!

1-4 pm: Dip Candles
Make candles the old-fashioned way, by dipping a string in wax.

Yoga Workshops: The Seven Chakras - Fourth Chakra: Heart

February 26, 2012 - 1:00pm - 2:30pm

Fees: Drop in for a single workshop or take the entire series.
Drop-in fee (pay at the admission desk): $15/general; $13/students & seniors (includes admission to the sculpture garden); $6/members
8-class card: $104/general; $88/students & seniors; $40/members. Click here to download a registration form for a class card, or purchase your card at the admission desk. You can use this form to purchase an annual membership and qualify for the $40 member rate for your class card. Class cards are also available at the admission desk. Class cards are non-transferable, but may be used for Yoga in the Garden when it resumes. If you are an existing class cardholder, you may use your card for the workshops.

Why separate your spiritual life and your practical life? To an integral being, there is no such distinction.
-– Lao Tzu

Heather Eiden, ceramic artist, art educator and yoga instructor, has been offering a weekly beginning/intermediate Hatha Yoga class at Lynden all summer. Now that the season for outdoor yoga is over, we invite you indoors for a series of monthly yoga workshops focusing on the seven chakras, or energy centers. This series of workshops that will explore the energy system of the human body through yoga poses, Vinyasa flow (connected poses) and essential oils. And in the spirit of Lynden, they will integrate some artmaking through Mandala design.

The fourth workshop focuses on the heart chakra. The heart chakra is connected to our appreciation of beauty, sense of awe, compassion and gratitude. What better way to explore the heart chakra then through art, yoga and creative visualization at the sculpture garden? Wear appropriate clothing and footwear for outdoor walking, indoor practice and hands-on artmaking; bring a mat. Some yoga experience required.

Yoga, which means union, refers to the interconnection of mind, body and spirit. Yoga is an ongoing process of discovery, an evolving art, and a pathway to holistic health. Eiden focuses on mindfulness, centering and alignment as she leads students through asanas (physical postures), pranayama (control of the breath), and relaxation.

Complete Workshop Schedule
October 30: Root/Base Chakra
November 27: Sacral Chakra
January 29: Solar Plexus Chakra
February 26: Heart Chakra
March 25: Throat Chakra
April 29: Third Eye Chakra
May 27: Crown Chakra

Heather Eiden has been teaching Hatha Yoga since 2004. She is a registered teacher with the Yoga Alliance, and has studied at several places, including the Himalayan Yoga and Meditation Society in Rishikesh, India. She has offered a variety of yoga classes, including Beginning Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, Prenatal Yoga and Yoga for Alignment, at the Wisconsin Athletic Club and the Solcare Wellness Center since 2005.