Director's Note 6/1/14
Perhaps it's the warm and sunny weather, but we are sending the June e-news out a bit early to let you know that we are open over the Memorial Day weekend (including Monday) and to give you time to sign up for some of the workshops and events scheduled for early June. We are now open late on Wednesdays, so if you can't manage a visit this weekend, consider a picnic on a Wednesday followed by one of Naomi Cobb's monthly nature walks. Should you somehow get your fill of sun, you can always come inside to see our current exhibition, Kyoung Ae Cho: One at a Time.
We are still waiting to assess the damage from the long, cold winter: we seem to have lost some trees, there are leaks in the irrigation system, and at least one sculpture was damaged. But the balance is tipping toward summer: there is plenty of green outside my window and the fruit trees are just beginning to take on some color. Patrick Kernan is working on the formal garden and the UWM Field Station is conducting a wildlife study on the grounds, taking a close look at our frogs and crawfish (artist-in-residence Dan Torop, who takes photographs in the middle of the night, encounters biologists engaged in midnight frog census). And now that the snow is gone new sculptures are headed our way--updates will follow.
We are also expanding some of the self-directed activities at Lynden this summer. The plein-air painting boxes were a hit once again at Kites over Lynden, so we are assembling art and nature kits that you'll be able to check out at the front desk when you come to explore. Lynden Fellow Anna Grosch has been putting together age-appropriate activity guides, too. We'll let you know when these are ready by posting on Facebook. Naomi, Bob Retko and Weston Wagner have been busy developing a natural play area. Among its features are two kinds of bird feeders (and yes, we've already spotted an oriole at the jelly feeder) and a sunflower house. You can follow some of this on Facebook, too. The time to plant the garden we began last summer with Urban Underground is fast approaching and we will be putting out some calls for volunteers.
There is a lot of activity clustered at the beginning of the month of June: tai chi with Angela Laughingheart resumes on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday mornings (we are alternating yoga and tai chi each month through September; the first yoga series begins on June 29); Woodland Pattern returns with another poetry workshop, this one featuring Bhanu Kapil (and even if you can't attend the workshop, you can stop in for the reading on the evening of June 5); Linda Wervey Vitamvas offers a ceramics workshop. You can celebrate Father's Day with a father-and-child tai chi workshop or by taking advantage of our very first docent-led patio tour. The patio tours enable visitors who cannot walk the grounds to learn more about the many sculptures visible from the patio. After all, Mrs. Bradley was said to have sat in a corner of the porch to site many of the sculptures, so think of this as the Peg Bradley's-eye view of the sculpture collection.
Summer camps begin June 16, and the workshop pace picks up again toward the end of the month. All Hands Boatworks returns on June 21 for a two-weekend boat build. They're offering two different canoe models, an excellent opportunity to team up with a child, partner or friend to build your own canoe. Jane Moore will be teaching us how to make wearable felt flowers; the Milwaukee Bonsai Society invites teens to come in and learn about bonsai and take a tree home with them; Carey Watters will be teaching an array of bookmaking techniques in Art of the Book; and Jamie Bertsch offers a textile marbling workshop.
There are so many exciting things happening in July--the list at the bottom of the email only tells part of the story. Watch for several events designed to provide a context for Conversations with Sculptures, our event with the Trisha Brown Dance Company; and for our very first Free Family Sunday. We would like to thank Mortara Instrument for making it possible to waive admission and provide a shuttle bus from the closest MTC bus stop, making Lynden accessible to everyone.
