Director's Note 1/1/18
It was cold, very cold, at Lynden last week, but the squirrels were undeterred. My eyes, mostly glued to the computer screen, were occasionally attracted by motion just outside the window: pairs of squirrels chasing each other round and round the trunk of the elm. They’d make several circuits, three or four feet above the ground, and then they’d descend and run off, one in hot pursuit of the other. In the afternoons, when I’d make my way through the gallery to check in on the sculptures in our current exhibition, Small Works by Sculptors in the Bradley Family Foundation Collection and then stand at the front desk, looking out at the grass poking through the snow, squirrels would dash by, tails waving, feet barely touching the ground, threading their way through the magnolias.
It looks like we have arrived at ice skating season. We’ll keep you posted on Facebook as to conditions. When the ice is thick enough, we clear the ice on Little Lake on the weekends; if you’re interested in skating during the week, we are more likely to hand you a shovel and invite you to clear your own space. Snowshoers and cross-country skiers are welcome whenever there is enough snow. If we get sufficient snow heading into a weekend, and time permits, we may also pack down a trail around Big Lake.
Just as there are two full moons this month, we have squeezed two of our favorite winter events into January: Light Up the Garden--which concludes with a lantern-lit night walk and bonfire--and Winter Carnival. This year’s carnival is being organized by Riverwest community arts space Yours Truly, who are putting together an ambitious roster of activities from an emergency blanket/plastic bag fashion workshop to noodle hockey on the frozen pond (nature willing). Davey Tree will be back with a climbing crew—it’s always a glorious sight to see them climbing in the highest reaches of Lynden’s largest trees. There will be plenty of activities for people of all ages, and we are busily trying to secure a food truck.
Winter is a big time for jewelry at Lynden (maybe it’s the attractive warmth of the enameling kiln?). Leslie Perrino offers an enameling workshop (January 28) and will teach us how to fuse silver wire to make loop earrings on February 11. Today is the official beginning of the drop-off period for Radical Jewelry Makeover, a traveling community mining and recycling project of Ethical Metalsmiths that uses donated jewelry to create an alternative to mining and manufactured jewelry. We invite you to recycle your unwanted jewelry during our open hours. Local jewelers donate their time and skills to this community focused project, and you provide material for them to work with by donating jewelry you no longer wear. The result: “madeover” jewelry that will be sold at a series of events this spring (donors get a discount).
The winter brochures will be back from the printer shortly, but the entire schedule is up on the web and you can download a pdf from our homepage if you prefer. The Women’s Speaker Series offers its first event of 2018, an afternoon reading, on January 13. Sujata Massey will introduce her latest book, The Widows of Malabar Hill, and her new sleuth, Perveen Mistry. We sold out our event with Jennifer Chiaverini in December, so be sure to purchase your tickets well in advance. The weekly art drop-ins will resume the second week in January; we will also be offering a school’s out drop-in with extended hours on January 15. Scroll down for details about Tuesdays in the Garden (January 9, the theme is winter surprise) and homeschool day (January 18).
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you who contributed to our annual campaign, renewed a membership, or purchased memberships as gifts. Whether you value Lynden as a lively laboratory for artists, students, and educators, or as an oasis of tranquility, your support is what allows us to flourish.
