Events Calendar

Fee: $10/$5 members. Space is limited; advance registration required. Click here to register. Please note: online registration closes for each session the Friday before. You can register by phone at 414-446-8794 or in person day-of.

Join birder Chuck Stebelton the second Sunday (usually) of each month for a small-group, socially distanced bird walk on the grounds. Keeping to the perimeter of the garden, we’ll watch for seasonal migrants and resident bird species and seek out the best bird habitats to identify as many species as we can. Please dress for the weather and plan to walk in varied terrain. Bring your binoculars if you have them; no previous birding experience required. In the fall and winter months, the walk begins at 10 am. During the rest of the year the walk begins at 8:30 am.

About the Artist

Chuck Stebelton is author of An Apostle Island (Oxeye Press, forthcoming) and two previous full-length collections of poetry. As a birder and Wisconsin Master Naturalist volunteer he has offered interpretive hikes for conservancy groups and arts organizations including Friends of Cedarburg Bog, Milwaukee Audubon Society, Woodland Pattern Book Center, Friends of Lorine Niedecker, and the Lynden Sculpture Garden. He edits Partly Press for Lynden Sculpture Garden and is currently a participant in Lynden's residency program.

FREE
This is a virtual event.
Watch live on our Facebook page.
Tuesday, March 21, 2023 - 2:00pm - 3:00pm: Mekdes Woldemariam (Ethiopia/Milwaukee) in conversation with Hlawn Hlawn (Myanmar/California)
Tuesday, June 13, 2023 - 2:00pm - 3:00pm: Biluge Ntabala (Congo/Milwaukee) in conversation with Azeb Weldemariam (Eritrea/Milwaukee)
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 - 2:00pm - 3:00pm: Karina Tweedell (Ukraine/Milwaukee) in conversation with Melisa Hodzic (Bosnia/Milwaukee)
Tuesday, December 19, 2023 - 2:00pm - 3:00pm: TBC

Stories As We Move: A HOME Interview Series is an ongoing project that launched in 2020 as part of Lynden's HOME virtual platform. The series pairs individuals who have faced forced displacement in its many forms in a conversational setting. Refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants interview those that have resettled to the United States, including friends and family that are based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as those that remain overseas. The series covers a range of backgrounds and narrative identities, professions, and interests; participants include artists, community members, advocates and leaders, healthcare workers, caseworkers, interpreters, and students and educators. These interviews are reflections of relationships and conversations that we continue to have long after resettlement; they explore issues that our refugee friends and family members continue to face as they remain in their country of origin or interim country.

As we approach World Refugee Day 2023, Lynden’s community engagement specialist Kim Khaira will begin screening interviews from the series on one Tuesday each quarter on our Facebook page.

Fee: $10/$5 members per session
Registration: Registration is closed.

Join Lynden’s land managers on a walk around the grounds to discover our urban forest. On this walk we will discuss the various trees and shrubs that make up the forest, urban forest management techniques, and our recently completed tree inventory project which we conducted with the assistance of a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Urban Forestry Grant. This tree inventory and the resulting management plan are helping us care for our valuable urban forest far into the future.

This document was funded in part by an urban forestry grant from the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Forestry Program as authorized under s. 23.097, Wis. Stat.

About the Land Manager

Kyle Welna has been with Lynden for six years and enjoys the wide variety of interconnected projects at the sculpture garden. He is interested in invasive species control and is a recent graduate of UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences.

FREE
Milwaukee City Hall, 200 East Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202

Join the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families – Bureau of Refugee Programs and Lynden’s HOME program to celebrate World Refugee Day, and our refugee communities, through art, food, fashion, and performance, in Milwaukee’s beautiful City Hall.

Master of ceremonies Biluge Ntabala will direct a program that includes welcomes from Mayor Cavalier Johnson, City of Milwaukee; Bojana Zorić Martinez, Director, Bureau of Refugee Programs, and Wisconsin State Refugee Coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Children and Families; and others. There will be hands-on art making with Fanana Banana; poetry from Brenda Cárdenas, former Milwaukee Poet Laureate and Afghan poet Khatera Nazari; dance performances from the South Division High School Multicultural Club and Dnipro Ukrainian Dance Ensemble’s Promin Youth Group.

Hope Away from Home, an exhibition of work by local refugee children and youth, will be on display in the City Hall Rotunda from June 14-27.

Food trucks in attendance: Taste Amir’s Roti, Chemo’s Halal Taco Truck, Isa’s Ice Cream.

January-May: Reyna Grande's The Distance Between Us. Click here for more information.
June-September: Saeed Teebi's Her First Palestinian. Click here for more information.
October-December: Beth Nguyen's Owner Of A Lonely Heart: A Memoir. Click here for more information.

Fee: Free.
Registration: This discussion takes place via Zoom; advance registration required. Click here to register.

The Lynden/HOME Refugee Steering Committee book discussion group, moderated by Lynden’s Kim Khaira, is for those interested in firsthand accounts of displacement. We consider works of non-fiction and fiction, including autobiographical and semi-autobiographical works, by writers who have faced or are facing forced displacement as refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants. Where stories of persecution, historical trauma, and loss of livelihood are effortlessly conveyed by storytellers, journalists, and humanitarians who search out or stumble upon the lives of refugees, we seek out the words of those to whom these stories belong: the narrators who are the closest to their own stories, and the stories of their people, friends, family and, of course, refugees. Newcomers always welcome!

Saturday, May 20, 2023 – 10:30 am-3 pm
Saturday, June 24, 2023 – 10:30 am-3:30 pm

Fee: $150 per sitting. Each 30 minute session includes a tintype that the photographer takes and develops on site, as well as a scan.
Registration: https://www.margaretmuza.com/popups-1

This summer, thanks to the generosity of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Joseph R. Pabst Fund, we are once again offering special programming during our monthly dog days. For a complete list of Summer Dog Day events, click here.

Photographer Margaret Muza is known for her evocative tintype portraits. A tintype is a direct positive image, exposed through a wet chemical process directly onto a thin piece of metal. It is one of the earliest photographic methods, dating back to the 1850s. The large format camera and antique lens provides a romantic effect, while the characteristics of the chemical process add artifacts and uniqueness. The finished product is a tangible metal plate with the image composed of the contrast between the black metal and the highlights made of pure metallic silver.

The process is unique in many ways, but the greatest one is that it must be developed immediately after it is taken. This provides instant gratification: you get to see the tintype right away because it only takes a minute to develop it. The plate then must be properly washed and varnished in order to protect it. This object can easily be considered an heirloom, as it lasts a very long time. Nineteenth-century tintypes look beautiful to this day.

An 8 x 10-inch tintype can fit up to 8 people/animals. This activity is suitable for dogs and humans that can sit very still for up to 6 seconds, depending on the light. If anything moves, it will show up blurry, so please book only if that possibility doesn’t bother you. Or consider alternatives: sitting with one of your dog’s toys or favored objects, or even with a photograph of your dog.

About Margaret Muza
Photographer Margaret Muza has been working in wetplate since 2016. She hosts sessions at her studio in South Milwaukee, as well as traveling around the Milwaukee area doing porch sessions and pop ups.
www.margaretmuza.com

FREE
For further information on free transportation options to Lynden, please contact us at info@lyndensculpturegarden.org or call 414-446-8794.

The HOME Refugee Steering Committee at the Lynden Sculpture Garden invites you to observe World Refugee Day in a series of outdoor events and programs that celebrate Milwaukee’s refugee communities through art, food, fashion, and performance.

Bring a picnic and a blanket to enjoy the outdoors with friends, family, and community. Or bring along cash (ATMs are available at local gas stations) to “taste the world” by purchasing food and refreshments from community chefs who have participated in HOME programs and Tables Across Borders. You’ll be able to grab a snack, sample dishes, or purchase a full meal from the Afghan, Ethiopian, and Rohingya communities. A full menu will be published shortly!

World Refugee Day at Lynden, co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families – Bureau of Refugee Programs, is organized as both a resource fair and a celebration of many cultures. In addition to making art, tasting food, and listening to stories, poems, and music and dance, visitors will be able to gather information on local services for refugees. One of our major sponsors, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield will provide community resources, PHE unwinding materials, and health and wellness educational information.

Under the big tent, you’ll find vendors from the HOME community including Hmodern Made (Ashley Xiong) and Mchete's African Treasures (Monica Ashery), and two henna tables--Hayati's Henna (Nurhayati Ali) and Mh Trendz (Muneeba Irslan), and resource booths staffed by refugee-serving agencies and community-based organizations including Anthem Blue-Cross Blue-Shield; the Milwaukee Public Library; Hanan Refugees Relief Group; Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Worker Connection Program; Neighborhood House of Milwaukee – International Learning Program; Hmong American Friendship Association; Community Center for Immigrants; Hunger Task Force; Covering Wisconsin; United Nations Association of Greater Milwaukee; Catholic Charities Milwaukee; Milwaukee Consortium of Hmong Health, Inc.; Amigo’s Rotary Club; Jewish Social Services Madison, Progressive Community Health Centers; SEAL, Inc.; Madison Refugee Union; Maximus, Inc.; International Institute of Wisconsin; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries & Institute of World Affairs; and more.

Schedule

11-11:30 am: Interfaith prayers & buna ceremony
12 pm: Dance performances by Al-Ghurba Dabke Group and Dnipro Ukrainian Dance Ensemble and its Promin Youth Group
12-3 pm: Multilingual Story Time
12:45-1:30 pm: Music performance by Hamid Ullah
1:30 pm: Welcome from Bojana Zorić Martinez, Director, Bureau of Refugee Programs, and Wisconsin State Refugee Coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Children and Families
1:30 pm-3 pm: Multilingual Poetry Walk with Chuck Stebelton and friends
3 pm: Samba da Vida MKE music performance

The program will begin at 11 am with a land acknowledgement and a series of interfaith prayers organized by the Rev. J.C. Mitchell of Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee and the Rev. Gwendolyn F. Sutton of the HOME Refugee Steering Committee.

Frey Faris of the HOME Refugee Steering Committee and HOME vendor Rahel Kesis will conduct a traditional and aromatic Ethiopian buna ceremony, roasting raw coffee beans and spices. Hot tea and coffee will be provided after at the Ethiopian food tent.

Al-Ghurba Dabke Group, presented by Hanan Refugee Relief Group returns to perform their celebrated Palestinian folk dances –an expression of the spirit of Arab/Palestinian culture.

Bojana Zorić Martinez, Director of the Bureau of Refugee Programs, and Wisconsin State Refugee Coordinator, will lead the program with a welcome speech, followed by representatives from various agencies and organizations.

Multilingual Story Time will move off your screens and outdoors, where Lynden’s art educator and naturalist Claudia Orjuela will lead a program in Spanish and English. She will be joined by musician Julio Pabon, educator and artist Ceci Tejeda, and librarians Tiffany Thornton of UWM Libraries, and Eric Johnson and Erin Sloan of Milwaukee Public Libraries. Expect singing, hands-on activities, and an exploration of Story Time’s theme of migration in the context of Lynden’s gardens.

We are honored to present Rohingya musician Hamid Ullah in his first live concert in the Milwaukee area. Hamid Ullah, who joined us via livestream for our virtual World Refugee Day celebration in 2021, is able to join us in person this year. A refugee from Buthidaung, Myanmar, Hamid Ullah is known for his mastery of the mandolin and harmonium, and his narrations of hope and lamentation. His original songs and music, arranged in the traditional Rohingya oral poetic form, echo stories of freedom and loss. His music, which is of great cultural significance to Rohingya communities around the globe, conjures a time immemorial and a place of belonging that extends beyond memory, record, or tradition.

Chuck Stebelton assembles a group of poets, refugees, historically displaced people, and social justice advocates for a Poetry Walk. The group will share poems together in an open, multilingual conversational setting as they travel around Lynden’s grounds. Invited readers include writers, translators, and artists with a practice of thinking and writing in poetic forms. Participants include: Mauricio Kilwein Guevara (English, Spanish); Ibrahima Fall (English, French, Wolof); Biluge Ntabala (English, Congolese); Khatera Nazari (English, Dari); Haji Mohammad Essa Durrani (English, Dari); Alex Niemi (Russian, French, Spanish)); Portia Cobb (English, Gullah); Antonio Vargas-Nieto (English, Spanish); and Milwaukee poet laureate (2010-2011) Brenda Cárdenas (English, Spanish), among others.

We finish the day with Milwaukee’s percussion ensemble, Samba da Vida MKE. Pull out your dancing shoes and join them as they perform.

About the Artists

About Al-Ghurba Dabke Group
Presented by Hanan Refugee Relief Group, Al-Ghurba Dabke Dance Group is a Palestinian folklore dance troupe established in Milwaukee in 2019 by a group of talented performers. The aim of the group is to express the spirit of Arab/Palestinian folklore and culture through a combination of traditional and modern dance. After their performance, Al-Ghurba Dabke Group will invite the audience to join in a hands-on session to learn a traditional form of line dance.

About Hamid Ullah
Hamid Ullah is a Rohingya musician and refugee from Buthidaung, Myanmar. In the 1990s, he fled to Bangladesh, and in 2008 he resettled to Ontario, Canada. Hamid began playing music at the age of nine, while living in Myanmar. He supported his family by performing with his band, managed by monks, at weddings, parties, and community gatherings. Since then, he continues to perform at various cultural and educational events. Today, he is known for his mastery of the mandolin and harmonium, and his narrations of hope and lamentation. His original songs and music, arranged in the traditional Rohingya oral poetic form, echo stories of freedom and loss. His music, which is of great cultural significance to Rohingya communities around the globe, conjures a time immemorial and a place of belonging that extends beyond memory, record, or tradition. He has been featured in various publications and projects including Music in Exile, the Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre/Rohingya Kimoti Rosomor Ghor of International Organization for Migration-IOM/UN Migration, and at Lynden Sculpture Garden's virtual World Refugee Day 2021. He travels from Canada to Chicago and Milwaukee to perform for World Refugee Day 2023. In Milwaukee, he will perform at Lynden's HOME 2023: World Refugee Day on June 25.

About Samba da Vida MKE
Samba da Vida MKE, an Afro-Brazilian percussion ensemble, has been Milwaukee’s own Brazilian Samba school since 2010 and is part of the International Grooversity drumming network spearheaded by Marcus Santos (Grooversity.com). Samba Da Vida MKE brings together people of all ages to celebrate the Afro-Brazilian and Carnaval traditions of Salvador da Bahia, Rio, and São Paulo. Directed by Julio Pabón and Bony Benavides, SDV MKE is featured in parades and performances throughout greater Milwaukee and focuses on maintaining and promoting the rich musical culture of Brazil. https://www.facebook.com/SambadaVidaMKE/

About Brenda Cárdenas
Brenda Cárdenas’s books and chapbooks include Trace (Red Hen Press); Boomerang (Bilingual Press); Bread of the Earth/The Last Colors, with Roberto Harrison; Achiote Seeds/Semillas de achiote, with Cristina García, Emmy Pérez, and Gabriela Erandi Rico; and From the Tongues of Brick and Stone. She also co-edited Resist Much/Obey Little: Inaugural Poems to the Resistance (Spuyten Duyvil Press) and Between the Heart and the Land: Latina Poets in the Midwest (MARCH/Abrazo Press). Cárdenas has served as Milwaukee’s poet laureate, taught for CantoMundo and Letras Latina’s Pintura : Palabra, A Project in Ekphrasis, and is Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. You can find her at brendacardenas.net.

About HOME
HOME is the theme of our work with refugee community leaders, community members, Call & Response artists, and allies. The HOME Refugee Steering Committee is building a space of leading, coming together, and celebrating refugees.

World Refugee Day 2023 celebrations extend into three additional HOME “days” featuring music, dance, food, fashion (both ethnic and traditional), and two markets offering handicrafts and homemade goods. For all HOME 2023 programming, click here.

HOME 2023 is sponsored in part by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, Refugee Programs; Anthem Blue-Cross Blue-Shield; and Hanan Refugee Relief Group.

Additional partners include Milwaukee Public Library, UWM Libraries, Tables Across Borders, Wisconsin for Ukraine, Community Center for Immigrants, and more.

2023 Summer Session (June 6-August 29): Tuesdays, 10:30 am-11:30 am
2023 Fall Session (September 5-December 19:) Select Tuesdays, 10:30 am-11:30 am

Tuesdays in the Garden, designed for children aged 1-3, provides a nurturing environment where children’s curiosity and wonder are extended through play and exploration, and children and their caregivers learn and discover side-by-side. Join art educators Claudia Orjuela and Denice Niebuhr for hands-on art making and all-senses-engaged exploration of the outdoor world at Lynden. We’ll consider different themes, each designed to connect Lynden’s environment with children’s interests. We will encourage experimentation and the manipulation of art and natural materials to tell stories, solve problems, and develop relationships.

Fee: $16/$12 members for one adult and one child.
Registration: Group size is limited; advance registration is required. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration does not guarantee admission. Once we receive your completed registration form, we will follow up via e-mail with an invoice for payment – or a notification that you've been added to the waitlist – and a confirmation after payment is received. Register online now.

To view a list of the session themes, click here.