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Thursday, January 22 2026

January 22, 2026 - 11:30am - 2:00pm

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

World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe. It celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. On June 22, 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, poetry, and performance, in Milwaukee’s beautiful City Hall. The theme for World Refugee Day 2026, selected by Lynden’s HOME Refugee Steering Committee, is We Belong/You Belong: Joy and Unity Against the Odds.

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. For all HOME 2026 programming, click here.

HOME 2026 is sponsored in part by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, Refugee Programs.

Art + Nature Lab for Ages 7-11

January 22, 2026 - 3:30pm - 5:30pm

Art + Nature Lab
Lynden’s Art + Nature Lab for ages 7-11 is a dynamic studio experience where creativity flourishes through choice, exploration, and personal expression. This student-driven program encourages participants to work as artists—selecting their own subjects, materials, and approaches while developing confidence in their creative process. With access to a wide variety of tools and media, participants experiment, problem-solve, and refine their ideas into works of art while sharing inspiration, taking creative risks, and growing together in a supportive art community.

Registration: Group size is limited; advance registration required.

Winter 2026 Session I: (7 weeks) Thursdays, January 15- February 26, 2026 | 3:30pm – 5:30pm

Spring 2026 Session II: (7 weeks) Thursdays, March 12-April 30, 2026 (no class April 2) | 3:30pm – 5:30pm

Fee: $175/$133 members per 7-week session. Not a member? You can add a membership when you register to receive the discount. Register online now.

HOME Book Discussion Group 2026

January 22, 2026 - 7:00pm - 8:00pm

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

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!

Book Sessions

January 2026-April 2026: Pick a Color is a novel by Laotian-Canadian writer Souvankham Thammavongsa that depicts the experiences of a nail salon owner who observes the two worlds that she occupies:as Susan, to one world, and Ning, to another.

April 2026-July 2026: Black Butterflies, by Priscilla Morris, was inspired by Morris's part-Bosnian heritage, including childhood summers spent in Sarajevo. This debut novel is about Zora, an artist who experiences love and loss as she navigates the devastating landscape during the Siege of Sarajevo.