FREE
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. Our theme for 2025 is Walking Together, Weaving the World.
From 11 am to 4 pm, the HOME Family Workshop Day will feature opportunities to learn or observe traditional crafts and their modern variants, explore Lynden’s landscape, and browse the craft market. Check out the full list of vendors below.
Some workshops invite you to make instruments to play or scarves to wear during our late afternoon bombazo. Batik artist and indigo advocate--and Call & Response artist-in-residence–Arianne King Comer will run a scarf making session from 11am to 3pm in her outdoor dyeing studio. Sign up make a drum with Batey del Lago’s Julio Pabon from 12pm to 2pm. At 4 pm, Batey del Lago’s Joan Luciano will teach movement and dance through the element of air, using the scarves you made during Comer’s batik session.
Join the Multicultural Embroidery Circle with Faith Herr (Hmong) and Lynden’s Be the Change youth leader Shazia Bibi (Afghan). 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. Afghan embroidery specialist and elder Bibi Majan Rahimi will join Shazia to teach Afghan stitchery. 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.
Yvone Chandja from the Congolese community will demonstrate basket making using reusable plastic. She will showcase her technique, from weaving the plastic “rope” to completing the basket. Her bags and baskets will be for sale.
Fatimah Abdul Manan will offer full-day, drop-in crocheting session. For this Rohingya fiber artist, her practice is more than just a craft—it's a way to connect with different cultures and traditions. Each culture brings its own unique techniques and meanings to crochet, using the art form to express identity and values. In the Rohingya culture, crocheting often focuses on shawls with floral patterns, symbolizing beauty and care. As an architecture student, Fatimah incorporates yarn and weaving techniques into her design process, using them to represent structural systems—like the bones of a building that hold everything together. Bring your own projects to finish or showcase alongside Fatimah’s works, or join her open session as she guides beginners as they make their very own coaster, covering the basic techniques of stitching.
Create your own mini-Alebrije using "cartoneria" (also known as papier mâché) with Ceci Tejeda. Alebrijes are colorful, fantastic creatures, made up of body parts from different animals, that come from your imagination.
Outdoor activities begin at 12:30pm with a guided cross-cultural exploration of poetry and place in and around Lynden’s birch grove, cultural garden, apiary, and bonsai exhibit. Your guides will be poet and Lynden artist-in-residence Chuck Stebelton and Lynden’s Rudy Medina. They will share a selection of poems and landscape writing along the way and invite you to bring your own selections to share. At 1:45pm, learn to forage through the eyes of mother-daughter team Thin Thin Nyunt Nan (Karen) and Mala Nan Leth (HOME Refugee Steering Committee). They’ll begin by applying tanaka paste, a traditional Burmese sunscreen, before heading across the grounds.
At 4 pm, we join Batey del Lago for a bombazo, a hands-on exploration of Puerto Rican bomba, an Afro-Indigenous musical tradition that is the oldest in Puerto Rico. Participants will have the opportunity to try traditional percussion instruments, learn bomba songs, and practice dance movements. No prior experience is necessary, just bring your energy and curiosity! Once you have a few moves under your belt, Batey del Lago will offer a lively bomba performance where you can practice what you have learned.
About Bomba
Bomba is Puerto Rico’s oldest musical tradition, still practiced today as a form of resistance and cultural identity. It dates back over 400 years ago from the colonial plantations where enslaved Africans and their descendants worked. Bomba has deep roots in South-Central Africa, and encompasses drumming, dance, and song, as well as food, community building, and oral history.
Bámbula is a musical genre that unites the Caribbean and other Afro-diasporic parts of the American continent. It was developed as a means to gather as a community while connecting with African ancestors and to the motherland or African continent. Bomba is Puerto Rico’s Bámbula.
About Batey del Lago
Batey del Lago is a Milwaukee-based Puerto Rican bomba group committed to preserving this Afro-Indigenous musical tradition. Through music, dance, and song, they honor the roots of bomba while embracing its contemporary expressions. The group’s members include musicians, educators, office workers, and artists, all united by a passion for sharing and reviving the rhythms, songs, and movements of Afro-Puerto Rican bomba. Batey del Lago
Schedule
| Time |
Event |
| 11am–4pm |
HOME Craft Market – final craft market of the season! Full list of vendors below. |
| 11am–4pm |
Basket making demonstration using single-use plastic bags with Yvone Chandja (Congolese). |
| 11am–4pm |
Multicultural embroidery circle with Faith Herr (Hmong) and Lynden’s Be the Change youth leader Shazia Bibi (Afghan). Supplies provided. |
| 11am–4pm |
Hands-on Crocheting with Fatimah Abdul Manan (Rohingya). Try a simple crochet project; supplies provided. |
| 11am–3pm |
Batik and indigo dyeing with Arianne King Comer—make a bomba scarf. |
| 12pm–1:30pm |
Hands-on Mini Alebrijes Workshop with Ceci Tejeda (Session 1). Space is limited: register in advance. (10 slots) |
| 12pm–2pm |
Make a drum with Julio Pabon (and use it during the bombazo). Space is limited: register in advance. (20 slots) |
| 12pm–2pm |
Aurora St. Luke’s Family Medicine Clinic: Free health screenings (blood pressure, blood sugar) and education on diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma, reproductive/sexual health, and mental health. |
| 12:30pm–1:30pm |
Poetry Walk with poet-in-residence Chuck Stebelton and Lynden’s Rudy Medina. |
| 1:45pm–3pm |
Foraging walk with mother-daughter team Thin Thin Nyunt Nan (Karen) and Mala Nan Leth (HOME Refugee Steering Committee). |
| 2:30pm–4pm |
Mini Alebrijes Workshop by Ceci Tejeda (Session 2). Space is limited: register in advance. (10 slots) |
| 4pm–6pm |
Bombazo with Batey del Lago |
Craft Market Vendors
Hmong Made - Handmade accessories (jewelry and hair accessories) by Ashley Xiong (Hmong).
JoMaLu LLC – Jewelry and vegan beauty product line by mother, dancer, painter and creative Joan Luciano.
Khizra Henna Designs – Henna services and henna cones by Kauser Jabeen (Pakistani).
Maly Aroma Boutique - Candles, wax melts, hand soaps, and stickers by Maly Vang (Hmong).
Mariam Africa - African traditional clothes and quality shea butter curated by Mariam Kebe (Mali).
Mchete's African Treasures – Authentic handmade jewelry, men's and women's African clothes, artwork, beadwork, and African fabrics curated by Monica Ashery (Tanzanian).
Olive Essence Soap - Natural handmade soap, liquid body wash, bath salts, lotion, Turkish soap and cosmetic products, body scrubs, and creams for different hair types by Gharam Amer (Syrian and Turkish).
Puffy and Fluffy – Crochet plushies and hijabs, and ma'moul (date filled cookies) by Dana and Reem Barbarawi (Palestinian).
Royal Beauty – Organic and homemade hair oil and facial products by Enas Alwedyan (Jordanian).
Safa M. Art – Whimsical, handmade mini art pieces, including small canvas paintings, mini faux cake trinket boxes, decoupage shells, decorative magnets, resin bowls, and more by Safa Muhammad (South/Southeast Asian).
Shady Lady – A recycled and upcycled rubber jewelry line that is lovingly handcrafted, representing nature while keeping rubber out of landfills and oceans, and promoting the concept of wearable art. Each piece is truly one-of-a-kind and made by Neda Stevic (Serbian).
Yvone Chandja and Why Not Now Missions – Upcycled Goods featuring handmade recycled handbags, rugs, pillowcases, sleeping mats (Congolese).
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 2025 programming, click here.
Fee: $16/$12 members for one adult and one child.
