Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.
Registration: Pre-registration is not required, but it helps us to plan if we know you are coming (email us at info@lyndensculpturegarden.org.)

1-2 pm: Tree Walk on the Lynden Grounds
Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden. No advance registration required.

2-3:15 pm: Make Your Own Four-Legged Foot Stool with Joseph La Macchia
Fee: $30/$25 members (includes all materials to make one stool; no charge for additional helpers). Space is limited; advance registration required. To register, call 414-446-8794.

A Workshop with Wes Tank

Register online now.

Fee: $55/$50 members

A Workshop with Wes Tank

Online registration is now closed. To register for this workshop, call 414-446-8794.

Fee: $55/$50 members
Registration: Space is limited, advance registration required. If you prefer to register by phone, call 414-446-8794. You may also be interested in Editing Your GoPro Footage with Wes Tank, March 22.

Red-bellied woodpecker

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.

For the fifth year in a row, Lynden is a registered site for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. The main goal of this citizen science project is to combine the interests of backyard bird watchers with the needs of ornithologists who study bird populations. By making simple, standardized counts of the birds in their yards (or, in this case, at Lynden) and reporting them to the FeederWatch database, FeederWatchers contribute directly to the scientific understanding of bird populations. These observations help scientists study changes in the distribution and abundance of feeder birds over time.

We have established bird feeders on the grounds, using the recommended seeds to attract birds through the seasons. We have binoculars and color charts to help us identify the birds at our feeder. Now, we need bird viewers of all ages and experience levels to join us on our siting days to help tally our observations for the project. You can visit the FeederWatch website and download their very useful handbook.

Lynden’s fall FeederWatch season begins November 19-20. If you are interested in participating, contact Naomi Cobb at ncobb@lyndensculpturegarden.org, and she will set up a time to train you in FeederWatch procedures and determine your observation schedule.

FeederWatch Dates

Birds are counted periodically for two consecutive days, at least five days apart, over the course of the FeederWatch season.
2018
November 19, 20
November 26, 27
December 3,4
December 10,11
December 17, 18

FeederWatch Sign-Up

Contact Naomi at ncobb@lyndensculpturegarden.org to sign up for a slot.

FeederWatch Photos

Get a good photo at the Lynden feeders? Send it to us at staff@lyndensculpturegarden.org and we'll add it to the gallery.

Hermit thrush, photo by Chuck Stebelton

Turkeys feasting at the feeders; photo by Jeremy Stepien

Turkeys return on a frigid day; photo by Naomi Cobb

Fee: Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.
Registration: Advance registration required; email us at staff@lyndensculpturegarden.org to let us know you're attending, and how many there will be in your party. Please note: the lantern-making portion of this program is now full, but all are welcome to bring their own lanterns and join us for the walk at 5 pm.

What better way to experience Lynden in the winter than by lantern light? Join Jeremy Stepien in the art studio beginning at 3 pm for this popular annual family workshop to make a lantern (or bring your own). Visitors of all ages can enjoy designing and decorating lanterns made from recycled jars and tea light candles. Embellishments include tissue paper collage, punched-tin lids, and reeds and wires (for handles). Make your own or work together to create a lantern for your group.

At 5 pm we embark on a lantern-lit walk through the garden, led by naturalist Naomi Cobb. She will guide you safely through Lynden's back acres, introducing you to the mysteries and unique features of outdoor life after dark. We'll end with a bonfire and hot cider.

The garden will open at noon as usual; the walk will begin at 5 pm.

An Evening to Enjoy the Planets

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.

The Lynden Sculpture Garden remains open until 7:30 pm on Wednesdays during the summer months. It's a beautiful time to see the garden, to enjoy a picnic on the grounds, and to take a stroll. We would like more people to enjoy these evenings at Lynden, so on July 23 we're adding some inducements- an astronomy talk, planet gazing, even an appropriately-themed dessert (Transit of Venus cookies anyone?)--to lure you out on a Wednesday night. We've even arranged for Saturn to put on a great show around 9 pm--its rings will be facing Earth at a high angle of tilt--with Mars to follow at 9:30 pm.

Bring your picnics or enjoy delicious soups, salads and more from the Simmer Truck, your dancing feet, your telescopes, your ears and your eyeballs (and don't worry if you don't have a telescope, Rob will provide a 11" Schmidt-Cassegrain or 13" Newtonian telescope).

Here's the schedule:

6-8 pm: Picnic
Grab dinner from the Simmer Truck or pack a picnic and pick a spot on the grass, or a place at one of our picnic tables.
Stroll the grounds, relax by the Big Lake, get to know a sculpture.

8-9 pm: Orientation to the Night Sky: What You'll Be Seeing with Robert Powell

9-10:30 pm: Planet Gazing

About Robert Powell

Robert Powell is an amateur astronomer and member of the Northern Cross Science Foundation, an astronomy outreach organization in Milwaukee's North Shore. In 2003, he was one of six people in Wisconsin to be appointed to NASA's Saturn Observation Campaign. The international outreach program of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was designed to engage youth in the excitement of astronomy.

Wednesdays, May 21, June 18, July 16 & August 27

Fee: Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.
Registration: Pre-registration is not required, but it helps us to plan if we know you are coming (email us at info@lyndensculpturegarden.org.)

Take advantage of Lynden's extended summer hours and drop in for a picnic (pack your own) followed by a walk through Lynden's less-explored areas. The 40 acres that make up Lynden include meadows with native plants and trees, ponds that support a huge array of aquatic life, and thickets filled with nesting activity and shelter. Numerous birds, insects and mammals are sighted each day. Come explore the hidden natural treasures of this unique sanctuary with naturalist Naomi Cobb. Each month we will visit the back acres, observing what the seasons bring, and locating evidence of the abundant life that is there. Wear good hiking shoes, dress for the weather, and bring your curiosity and wonder.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.

Kite makers, flyers, artists and art lovers of all ages are invited to celebrate the arrival of spring with an afternoon of events and activities. Drop into the studio to make and decorate simple, earth-friendly kites using recycled plastic bag kite material provided by Yevgeniya Kaganovich and the grow crew, or pick up a DIY plein air painting box and head outside for some artmaking. A great opportunity to get to know our Summer Camp staff.

Alka Bhargava will offer an Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) demonstration at 2 pm. Bhargava, an associate master of the Ichiyo School of Ikebana, creates flower arrangements that give the viewer an experience with nature that is unexpected, stimulating, and profound. The Ichiyo School encourages personal interpretation: imagination is considered as essential to creative design as materials and containers. Many of you may know Bhargava from the Milwaukee Art Museum's Art in Bloom, where she won the Iron Design Competition (2014), the top award (2013), and Best Creative Design (2008 and 2009).

A Workshop with the Milwaukee Bonsai Society

Ages: Entering grades 6-9 in fall 2014.

Fee:$60/ $54 members of Lynden or the Milwaukee Bonsai Society. This price includes one tree to take home.

Registration: Register online now. Space is limited; advance registration required. If you prefer not to pay online, give us a call at 414-446-8794 to register by phone.

At Lynden, we think of bonsai as one of the most intriguing intersections of art and nature. This is why we have joined with the Milwaukee Bonsai Society to host some of their exhibitions and informal showings of bonsai. We are delighted to be able to offer a series of hands-on workshops that will introduce children, teens and adults to the art of bonsai.

A bonsai is a living sculpture, changing from day to day, season to season, and year to year. Because it is never finished, it celebrates all of nature: its cycles, its harshness, its resilience, its balance. Creating and caring for a bonsai combines the principles of design with the science of horticulture; it develops an appreciation for the world of trees and the world of three-dimensional artmaking.

In this hands-on workshop, you will work one-on-one with an experienced bonsai teacher to learn the basic principals and techniques of bonsai design, creating your own bonsai from tropical material and transplanting it into a ceramic bonsai container to take home.

The Milwaukee Bonsai Society, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals in their efforts to increase their knowledge and skills in the art of bonsai.