Director's Note 5/1/14
Several of us at Lynden spend a lot of time on the website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is not simply a morbid fascination with the weather; so much that we do here, from taking down trees to waxing sculpture to performing outdoors, is affected by temperature, wind and precipitation. This week, it has seemed more than appropriate that the site's url is noaa.gov. Still, NOAA assures us that the kites will be flying at Lynden on Sunday, and that we will be enjoying mostly sunny skies. Kites over Lynden is scheduled that afternoon, and in addition to making kites from material manufactured from recycled papers bags by Yevgeniya Kaganovich and her grow crew, you will be able to check out paint boxes to paint en plein air--outside, where it won't be raining--or to come indoors to see Kyoung Ae Cho's current exhibition, One at a Time. At 2 pm, Alka Bhargava, veteran of many an Art in Bloom at the Milwaukee Art Museum, will offer a demonstration of Ikebana, or Japanese flower arranging.
Lynden's plants and animals seem impervious to the dreary weather. Yesterday evening, a deer, several turkeys, a handful of wood ducks and a robin or two held a conclave near Ernest Shaw's sculptures before drifting off to their various nests and hiding places. Daffodils are visible in many locations, the forsythia is finally in bloom, and the branches of the elms are sporting a barely-green haze that has grown from five o'clock shadow to something shaggier in the course of a week. The turtles are particularly active, and even Samuel Buri's Vaches have returned, newly washed, to their grazing place beside the Big Lake.
The spring/summer brochure is now available, and we have reached the time of year when the list of upcoming events can become a little numbing. I will limit myself to a few highlights (all of May is listed chronologically below, and of course you can see all events for the coming months on our web calendar).
Mother's Day is coming up, and you can spend it fruitfully at Lynden strolling in the garden, admiring the Milwaukee Bonsai Society's Spring Display, and painting scarves in our silk scarf workshop. May is also the month when we begin to stay open later on Wednesdays. Our first late Wednesday is May 14, and once a month (the 21st in May) Naomi Cobb will offer an evening nature walk at 6:30 pm. Bring a picnic and then discover something new in Lynden's back acres. The Women's Speaker Series welcomes Jessica Null Vealitzek, author of The Rooms Are Filled, on May 28--another good evening to bring a picnic or take a walk. We are following up our first bonsai workshop for parents and children with Bonsai for Beginners, just the place to start a lifelong attachment to bonsai. Sally Duback is planning a day-long pastel workshop for the end of the month that--weather permitting--should provide a great opportunity for making art outdoors.
June is when summer camps begin (several are already full), and Tai Chi and Yoga return to the garden. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this newsletter for the capsule version of June activities. Of special interest in July are our first Midsummer Saturnalia (think planet gazing), the opening of Inside/Outside: Nancy Popp + Paul Druecke and Conversations with Sculptures featuring the Trisha Brown Dance Company among Lynden's sculptures.
