Events Calendar

2026 Winter/Spring Session (Jan 14 - May 27): Wednesdays, 10:00 am-11:00 am
Fee: $20/$16 members for one adult and one child. Add an additional child for $8.
Registration: Group size is limited; advance registration is required. Register online now. Sessions move indoors in the event of inclement weather.
For children ages 1–3 and their caregivers

Wednesdays in the Garden offers a nurturing and joyful space for our youngest learners to explore, play, and grow. Together with their caregivers, children will discover the wonders of the natural world and Lynden’s unique sculpture collection through hands-on experiences that spark curiosity, wonder, and creativity.

Early childhood educators Claudia Orjuela and Denice Niebuhr will guide families through sensory-rich activities, outdoor adventures, and open-ended artmaking. Each week highlights a new theme, connecting children’s natural interests with the world around them.

Research from the National Association for the Education of Young Children shows that time outdoors supports healthier bodies, stronger minds, better sleep, and important social and emotional growth. At Lynden, we nurture these benefits by encouraging children to experiment with natural and artistic materials, tell stories, solve problems, and build relationships—all while having fun!

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

Fee: Free, but registration highly encouraged.
Register: Click here to register.

Join Annalesa Albright for a morning of multigenerational knitting and good company. Bring your latest project or yarn from your stash to cast on something fresh. We can inspire each other and share our stories while we knit in the beautiful gallery at Lynden. This is not an instructional workshop, but all skill levels are welcome, from washcloth-makers to cabled-sweater-proficients. Annalesa will share some of her favorite patterns, and snacks will be served.

Annalesa’s mother taught her to knit at a very young age, and she has been knitting ever since—though she describes her technical skills as at a “watch a how-to video every time” level. Consequently, she likes the idea of passing on the skill to the younger generation. Children with the concentration to learn to knit (or to keep themselves quietly occupied while others indulge) are welcome.

About Annalesa Albright

Annalesa Albright has been a member of Lynden’s land team for five years. Her passions are gardening, exploring nature, and crafting (knitting, nature crafts, sewing). Using natural materials in her projects is very important to her. She has a formal education in local food systems and has spent years building her knowledge of local flora and fauna. Annalesa has a two-year-old daughter and is always finding ways to incorporate her passions into her parenting. She is eagerly sharing this confluence of interests with the Lynden community in Let’s Make Together!, a new series of workshops for 3-5-year-olds and their adults.

2026 Winter/Spring Session (Jan 14 - May 27): Wednesdays, 10:00 am-11:00 am
Fee: $20/$16 members for one adult and one child. Add an additional child for $8.
Registration: Group size is limited; advance registration is required. Register online now. Sessions move indoors in the event of inclement weather.
For children ages 1–3 and their caregivers

Wednesdays in the Garden offers a nurturing and joyful space for our youngest learners to explore, play, and grow. Together with their caregivers, children will discover the wonders of the natural world and Lynden’s unique sculpture collection through hands-on experiences that spark curiosity, wonder, and creativity.

Early childhood educators Claudia Orjuela and Denice Niebuhr will guide families through sensory-rich activities, outdoor adventures, and open-ended artmaking. Each week highlights a new theme, connecting children’s natural interests with the world around them.

Research from the National Association for the Education of Young Children shows that time outdoors supports healthier bodies, stronger minds, better sleep, and important social and emotional growth. At Lynden, we nurture these benefits by encouraging children to experiment with natural and artistic materials, tell stories, solve problems, and build relationships—all while having fun!

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

Reclamation, Photo Credit: Greg Kessler
FREE but registration required.
To attend the performance:To register online click here or call (414)446-8794.

In The Reclamation, which premiered at NYU Skirball in New York City in April 2025, choreographer Reggie Wilson is reclaiming foundational ideas from his early gestural and “duet-ed” works and landing on provocative questions and surprises that respond to our current times. Wilson’s meticulous and rigorous kinesthetic reclamation process asks, What do you have? What do you keep? How do you make whatever’s left meaningful? And, ultimately, Is the reclamation of self necessary to build resilience?

The Reclamation is the fourth episode in an eleven-year relationship with Reggie Wilson and his company, Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group. The relationship is built around Wilson’s desire to maintain a creative presence in Milwaukee, the city of his birth and upbringing, as an essential part of his artistic practice. Working from a model we have developed with the choreographer, his company, and Lynden’s constituent communities, Wilson has been reimagining his company’s proscenium works for Lynden’s specific conditions and participants since 2015, when he joined Call & Response as a core artist: Moses(es), Citizen, and POWER. Wilson remakes each piece to traverse the grounds and to integrate his “second company,” the large intergenerational cast of local dancers and community members who participate in his residencies.

2026 Winter/Spring Session (Jan 14 - May 27): Wednesdays, 10:00 am-11:00 am
Fee: $20/$16 members for one adult and one child. Add an additional child for $8.
Registration: Group size is limited; advance registration is required. Register online now. Sessions move indoors in the event of inclement weather.
For children ages 1–3 and their caregivers

Wednesdays in the Garden offers a nurturing and joyful space for our youngest learners to explore, play, and grow. Together with their caregivers, children will discover the wonders of the natural world and Lynden’s unique sculpture collection through hands-on experiences that spark curiosity, wonder, and creativity.

Early childhood educators Claudia Orjuela and Denice Niebuhr will guide families through sensory-rich activities, outdoor adventures, and open-ended artmaking. Each week highlights a new theme, connecting children’s natural interests with the world around them.

Research from the National Association for the Education of Young Children shows that time outdoors supports healthier bodies, stronger minds, better sleep, and important social and emotional growth. At Lynden, we nurture these benefits by encouraging children to experiment with natural and artistic materials, tell stories, solve problems, and build relationships—all while having fun!

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

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.

FREE
The HOME Refugee Steering Committee at the Lynden Sculpture Garden invites you to join us for a series of free, family-friendly events that celebrate Milwaukee's refugee communities through art, food, poetry, and performance. Our 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.

The HOME Family Workshop Day will features opportunities to learn or observe traditional crafts and their modern variants, explore Lynden’s landscape, browse the craft market, and visit our current exhibition, Warren King: Homecoming. Check out the full list of workshops and craft vendors below.

Please note: Although all activities are free, some workshops require advance registration.

Batik artist and indigo advocate--and Call & Response artist-in-residence–Arianne King Comer will run a shibori-dyeing session from 11 am to 3 pm in her outdoor dyeing studio. Sign up make a drum with Julio Pabon from 12 pm to 3 pm. Join the Multicultural Embroidery Circle with Faith Herr (Hmong). Paj ntaub (pah-dow) is a type of cross-stitch embroidery deeply ingrained in the history of the Hmong community. Faith, our paj ntaub specialist, will guide you through the process of making your own traditional Hmong paj ntaub as she explains the meanings of different embroidery symbols.

Using broom straw, stout sticks, and a range of embellishments, Call & Response artist Daniel Minter leads us through the process of making a broom. These brooms will appear in Minter’s upcoming exhibition at the Haggerty Museum of Art.

Create your own mini-Alebrije using "cartoneria" (also known as papier mâché) with Ceci Tejeda (two sessions: 11 am-1 pm and 2-4 pm). Alebrijes are colorful, fantastic creatures made up of body parts from different animals.

More outdoor activities begin at noon. First, learn to forage through the eyes of mother-daughter team Thin Thin Nyunt Nan (Karen) and Mala Nan Leth (HOME Refugee Steering Committee). Meet at the Thanaka Booth at the Craft Market and learn about thanaka, a natural Burmese/Myanmar sunscreen that participants can choose to apply before (or after) the walk, the traditional way.

Then, at 2 pm, join a poetry workshop led by Lily Lalios, Move Your (Poetic) Feet. Milwaukee is a city defined by its many waves of ethnic migration. In a non-exhaustive list, this includes Potawatami, Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida, and Mohican nations, German, Scottish, Irish, Polish, African-American, Italian, Jewish, Slovak, Latine, Greek, Hmong, Rohingya, Yemeni, and many more. The music, rhythms, and melodies of these lineages remain deeply encoded into the artistic instincts of those to whom they belong. What music do you think of as “yours” and what rhythm does it possess? Come take the rhythm of the music you love and let it guide the meter of your poetry!

Schedule

Craft Market Vendors

Arianne's Artist Way – Handmade batik and indigo wearables by Lynden's artist-in-residence Arianne King Comer.

Fairouz – Accessories and other cultural items, including jewelry and home décor, from Suheir Rashid.

Khizra Henna Designs – Natural handmade henna cones and homemade brownies from Kauser Jabeen.

Maly Aroma Boutique – Hmong embroidery designs, candles, and wax melts from Maly Vang.

Mai Glow – Skincare products, shea butter, body butter, body oils, face oil, soaps, and handicrafts—placemats, leather bags, dashikis, handwoven baskets—sourced from the Hausa Tribe from Nigeria and Northern Nigeria by Ameena Yusuf.

Mchete's African Treasures - Authentic handmade African men's and women's attire, beaded jewelry, Zulu hats, artifacts, Makonde carvings, handbags, fabrics, Maasai Shuka (blankets), ethnic wear, collectibles, African art, and other African treasures from Monica Ashery.

Olive Essence Soap - Handmade natural soaps, lotions, cosmetics, hair creams, deodorant, organic teas, cultural plates, and more from Gharam Amer.

Puffy and Fluffy - Crochet stuffed animals, keychains, and hijabs from Reem Barbarawi.

Royal Beauty – Homemade skincare products from Enas Alwedyan.

Thanaka Booth – Meet mother-daughter team Thin Thin Nyunt Nan (Karen) and Mala Nan Leth at their informational thanaka booth and learn about this natural sunscreen paste, Shwe Pyi Nann, that originates in Burma/Myanmar.

Zohra Hashemi – A variety of handmade crochet items, from table coverings to keychains, made by Zohra.

About the Artists

Faith Herr is a first generation Hmong-American citizen who grew up in a family where the Hmong culture remained just as important as the American culture she was raised in. As a child, hours would pass by while she watched her mother hand stitch every design of a traditional embroidery work, aka paj ntaub. Fascinated by the beauty of a completed paj ntaub as seen in traditional Hmong clothing, Faith took it upon herself to learn and keep this part of her culture alive by teaching it to others, whether at school to her students or at community events.

Ceci Tejeda was born and raised in Mexico City. Her parents are from Michoacán, Mexico, which is why she has Purepecha (Indigenous) blood in her veins. Ceci has admired her culture since she was a very young girl. When she first came to Wisconsin, it was difficult to adapt, but she never lost her love for creativity. Now that she has lived here for more than 10 years, she still embraces her roots and enjoys sharing them with others. She creates her papier-mâché alebrijes and skulls with joy and love and shares her papier-mâché skills with future generations through youth workshops at schools and cultural events. Ceci advocates for immigrant rights by volunteering for and using her artistic abilities to support Voces de la Frontera, a local immigrant rights group. She also collaborates with other Latinx artists in las R.A.R.A.S, a local artist collective. This work creates a sense of home by making her feel closer to her people, her culture, and herself. Participating in events for local artists supported by her community helps her to realize that no matter where she is, she can carry her roots with her.

Daniel Minter is an American artist known for his work in the mediums of painting and assemblage. He is co-founder and artist director of the Indigo Arts Alliance in Portland, Maine, and has been part of Lynden's Call & Response since 2019. He is a visual storyteller and accomplished illustrator. Minter's artwork reflects abiding themes of displacement and diaspora; ordinary/extraordinary blackness; spirituality in the Afro-Atlantic world; and the (re)creation of meanings of home. Minter's paintings, carvings, block prints, and sculptures have been exhibited both nationally and internationally at galleries and museums. He is the co-founder and creative visionary of the Portland Freedom Trail, a system of granite and bronze markers that constitutes a permanent walking trail highlighting the people, places, and events associated with the anti-slavery movement in Portland. Minter's work also marks the Malaga Island Trail which remembers the Black, European and Native American residents of the island who were forcibly removed by the state of Maine in 1912. He has illustrated over a dozen children's books and commissioned twice to create Kwanzaa stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. Minter teaches at the Maine College of Art.

Arianne King Comer is an art consultant, indigo and community arts advocate, lecturer, teacher, and textile artist. She is interested in the cultural traditions of the African Diaspora, and much of her research focuses on indigo cultivation and dyeing. Comer travels with wax pans, imprinting stamps from the countries that practice batik, a collection of dyes--including indigo--for cotton and silk, and examples of textiles from her collection. As an indigo advocate, she shares a native South Carolina indigo plant and several films on the indigo process in various countries, including the iconic Daughters of the Dust. Indigo has an ancient history and was found in many different parts of the world, but in the 18th century the Sea Islands of South Carolina were a center of indigo production, and Charleston exported vast amounts of indigo. (Along with rice and cotton, indigo formed the basis of South Carolina's wealth.) Indigo was the foundation of many West African textile traditions, where women, in particular, were known for their dyeing expertise, and enslaved West Africans worked the labor-intensive indigo plantations.

Julio Pabón is a musician and educator who has dedicated his career and life to his love for community. As a world-class percussionist, he performs with De La Buena Latin Jazz Ensemble. He started Samba da Vida MKE, a Brazilian samba school, at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and continues to grow it with fellow world-class percussionist Bony Plog-Benavides. With over 20 members, Samba da Vida performs at music shows and community events throughout the city. His prior musical ensembles and pursuits include working with the Milwaukee Public Theatre, the Tamarack Waldorf School, and others. In 2018, he joined the Waukesha Public School district as their music teacher.

Lily Lalios is a writer based in Milwaukee who has been published by #EnbyLife journal, Pitymilk Press, and VA Press. They also produced Apagimeni Literary Magazine, a compilation of poetry, essays, and visual art by and about the queer Greek American experience. Lily's work made the long list for the 2024 SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction, and they were a finalist for the 2025 Genrepunk Haunting Award. Currently, Lily is also a member of the writing team for Cabaret Milwaukee, a theatre troupe that performs radio dramas about Wisconsin history. Lily's project Over the Prairie//Under the Prairie is a yearlong series of free community poetry workshops, culminating in a print anthology. Milwaukee is a city defined by its many waves of ethnic migration. In a non-exhaustive list, this includes Potawatami, Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida, and Mohican nations, German, Scottish, Irish, Polish, African-American, Italian, Jewish, Slovak, Latine, Greek, Hmong, Rohingya, Yemeni, and many more. The music, rhythms, and melodies of these lineages remain deeply encoded into the artistic instincts of those to whom they belong. What music do you think of as "yours" and what rhythm does it possess? Come take the rhythm of the music you love and let it guide the meter of your poetry!

SUPPORT HOME WORLD REFUGEE DAY

To sponsor 2026 HOME World Refugee Day events, please click here.

To make an individual donation to support our HOME refugee programs, click here.

To volunteer, click here.

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.

World Refugee Day 2026 celebrations continue with a celebration at Milwaukee City Hall and two additional HOME “days” at Lynden featuring music, dance, food, poetry, and craft. For all HOME 2026 programming, click here.

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

FREE. Pre-registration required.
Register online or by phone at 414-446-8794.

Available sessions:

Tuesday, July 7, 2026, 10:30 am-12:30 pm
Monday, July 20, 2026, 10:30 am-12:30 pm
Monday, July 20, 2026, 1:30-3:30 pm

You are not required to attend the entire session.

Join Arianne King Comer at the dyeing vat as she relates the history of indigo and teaches different resist-dyeing methods, particularly traditional batik, adire (Yoruba), and shibori (Japanese) techniques of designing on cloth.

We began working with artist and indigo advocate King Comer in 2017. Her annual residency, IBILE! Ancestral Call in Cloth, went virtual during the pandemic, but in 2022 she returned and her outdoor, all-ages studio is, once again, under the big tent.

Participants are welcome to use our muslin yardage or to bring garments from home to dye, with a limit of two items (pieces of yardage or garments) per person. T-shirts and other items may be available for purchase if you want to undertake a more advanced project.

Pre-registration is required. Dress for dyeing and consider bringing your own rubber gloves (dishwashing variety).

Fee: Free.
Registration: Advance registration encouraged. Click here to register online. Work days are weather-dependent. If you have registered in advance, we will contact you if we are cancelling due to inclement weather.

Whether you are looking for a few hours of volunteer work or want a weekly activity that keeps you outside, you are welcome to join us on Wednesday mornings from 10 am to 12 noon. Projects vary from season to season; for the next few months, you will work alongside land staff to pull herbaceous invasive species in our natural areas, as well as help accomplish other projects around the grounds to enhance biodiversity and take care of the native flora and fauna. No experience is necessary, though you are encouraged to bring your favorite gardening gloves and digging tools if you have them. Water, snacks, and additional tools will be provided.

Land Stewardship at Lynden
The Lynden Sculpture Garden is transforming its natural habitats and formal landscapes into sustainable and diverse ecosystems that highlight their natural beauty. Our goal is to steward healthy habitats for an array of native plants and wildlife while adding a vibrant mosaic of color and texture to this sculptural landscape through every season. With over 40 acres and more than half a dozen specialized garden spaces, the Lynden provides many volunteer and learning opportunities, from removing invasive species to planting new trees and plugs, weeding, pruning, collecting, and spreading seeds. With a small land staff, volunteer help is essential to the evolution and restoration of the Lynden grounds.

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Garden Work Days 2026

2026 Winter/Spring Session (Jan 14 - May 27): Wednesdays, 10:00 am-11:00 am
Fee: $20/$16 members for one adult and one child. Add an additional child for $8.
Registration: Group size is limited; advance registration is required. Register online now. Sessions move indoors in the event of inclement weather.
For children ages 1–3 and their caregivers

Wednesdays in the Garden offers a nurturing and joyful space for our youngest learners to explore, play, and grow. Together with their caregivers, children will discover the wonders of the natural world and Lynden’s unique sculpture collection through hands-on experiences that spark curiosity, wonder, and creativity.

Early childhood educators Claudia Orjuela and Denice Niebuhr will guide families through sensory-rich activities, outdoor adventures, and open-ended artmaking. Each week highlights a new theme, connecting children’s natural interests with the world around them.

Research from the National Association for the Education of Young Children shows that time outdoors supports healthier bodies, stronger minds, better sleep, and important social and emotional growth. At Lynden, we nurture these benefits by encouraging children to experiment with natural and artistic materials, tell stories, solve problems, and build relationships—all while having fun!

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