A Drawing-as-Communication Workshop for All Skill Levels with Colin Matthes

Fee: $85/$75 members (all materials included)
Registration: Registration is closed. For information on upcoming workshops, sign up for our e-list.

“no one is an expert in everything and everyone is an expert in something”

In this workshop students are invited to share and visualize their essential knowledge. One part workshop, one part conversation, we will begin by sharing stories and learning from each other, then gradually move toward creating individual drawings designed to communicate our unique knowledge. Once the drawings are completed we will prepare them for reproduction and then design and print a book containing all the drawings made in class. You will receive a copy to take home.

Never drawn a thing in your life? No problem! The emphasis in this workshop is on communication (and drawing as a cross-disciplinary communication tool) rather than rendering skill. We will discuss how drawing communicates information in non-fine art disciplines, including architecture, science, and cartography. We will consider the role fiction, exaggeration, humor, and lies play in image-making and storytelling. Past participants have included 2nd graders, doctors, poets, and retirees from a variety of vocations.

About the Artist

Colin Matthes has been teaching Total Essential Knowledge workshops for several years. His TEK philosophy can be summed up in two thoughts: no one is an expert in everything and everyone is an expert in something; and drawing can be more than making something look like what it looks like.

When not teaching these workshops, Matthes makes interdisciplinary work about engineering the absurd, which allows him to address economic and environmental crisis from a funny, critical, and perversely industrious point of view. Matthes has exhibited internationally in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Antwerp, Dublin, Houston, Seville, Ljubljana, Melbourne, and Berlin. He has participated in numerous residencies including Hotel Pupik (Austria), Werkkamp (Belgium), and Cow House Studios (Ireland). He won the Mary L Nohl Fellowship for Individual Artists in 2012 (Established) and 2007 (Emerging). Matthes works collectively with Justseeds, and is a teaching artist for Lynden's Innovative Educators Institute.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.

In June, we opened the Bonsai Exhibit at Lynden, a collaboration with the Milwaukee Bonsai Society and the Milwaukee Bonsai Foundation. Located beside Big Lake, the Bonsai Exhibit includes a display area for bonsai, waterside teaching patio, and pollinator garden. Join volunteers from the Milwaukee Bonsai society for a guided tour of the exhibit, and an introduction to the world of bonsai.

Fee: $15/ $10 members (all materials included)
Registration: Advance registration required. Register by phone at 414-446-8794.

This workshop is part of Lynden's Garden Series. These workshops that take a broad view of what it means to garden. For more information, click here.

As fall prepares us for winter, so does the medicine found in the natural world. Stroll Lynden’s grounds with herbalist Kyle Denton, foraging the healing plants found in the wilds of southeast Wisconsin. Inside, we’ll prepare these herbs, sample them, and discuss their energetic qualities. Drawing on folklore, ancient wisdom, plant identification, and science, Denton will expand your understanding of our relationship to the natural world.

About Kyle Denton

Kyle Denton is an herbalist and owner of Tippecanoe Herbs and Apothecary, a Milwaukee clinical herbal practice and medicine-making company. Denton applies his knowledge of Ayurveda and traditional Western herbalism by creating herbal medicine preparations from locally wildcrafted plants; teaching courses; and offering clinical consultations.

A Workshop with David Cobb and David Weissman

Fee: $48/$42 members (includes all materials and snacks)
Registration: This workshop is now full. To be added to the wait list, call 414-446-8794.

Lynden is offering a series of holiday giftmaking workshops in November and December. They range from simple activities suitable for families with smaller children to more advanced workshops for adults. To enhance the celebratory spirit, we will have light refreshments available for participants. Whether you are making a gift for yourself or another, these workshops should provide a cheerful atmosphere for art making as we head into winter. To see a complete list of holiday giftmaking workshops, visit our Workshops page.

Join David Cobb and David Weissman, co-founders of the Milwaukee Craft Guild, in the Lynden shop as take you through the steps of constructing your very own cutting board. The two Davids will guide you through wood selection, gluing, sanding, and finishing to create a unique family heirloom. No prior woodworking experience is needed. The workshop concludes with bread, cheese, and wine to authenticate the boards
 

About the Milwaukee Craft Guild

The Milwaukee Craft Guild is a non-profit organization that helps adults learn crafts through a program of free mentoring. https://www.milwaukeecraftguild.org/

A Workshop with Maggie Sasso

Smoke Stack Comforter, 2017

Fee: $85/$75 members (all materials included)
Registration: Registration is closed. Sign up for e-list for information on future workshops.

Lynden is offering a series of holiday giftmaking workshops in November and December. They range from simple activities suitable for families with smaller children to more advanced workshops for adults. Whether you are making a gift for yourself or another, these workshops should provide a cheerful atmosphere for art making as we head into winter. To see a complete list of holiday giftmaking workshops, visit our Workshops page.

In this workshop you will learn several techniques to make rope coil vessels. Coil weaving is an expansive skill that allows you to make functional or sculptural forms in a variety of aesthetics. You will leave with a small coiled vessel that makes a perfect gift.

About the Artist

Maggie Sasso is a sculptor and fibers artist living and working in Milwaukee. She was a 2015 recipient of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship for Individual Artists. These days you can find her in the sewing lab at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, where she teaches and is the lab technician.

A Workshop with Maggie Sasso

Maggie Sasso, Haul Away Home - Dress Badges, 2015

Fee: $85/ $75 members (all materials included)
Registration: Registration is closed. Sign up for our email newsletter for information on upcoming workshops.

Badges use symbolism and simple graphics to represent merit, accomplishment, service, or legitimacy. In this workshop artist Maggie Sasso will explore the language of badges, and you will design and hand-embellish your own iron-on textile badge.

About the Artist

Maggie Sasso is a sculptor and fibers artist living and working in Milwaukee. She was a 2015 recipient of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship for Individual Artists. These days you can find her in the sewing lab at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, where she teaches and is the lab technician.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden. Younger children should work with an adult.

Lynden is offering a series of holiday giftmaking workshops in November and December. They range from simple activities suitable for families with smaller children to more advanced workshops for adults. Whether you are making a gift for yourself or another, these workshops should provide a cheerful atmosphere for art making as we head into winter. To see a complete list of holiday giftmaking workshops, visit our Workshops page.

Winter is approaching and as you plan a menu for your backyard birds, suet is a great source of high calorie energy. We will make suet feeders out of natural materials, and fill them with our own homemade suet mix. Please note: There are seeds and nuts in the suet mix, which may make this activity unsuitable for those with nut allergies.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden. Younger children should work with an adult.

Autumn is a time of transition and vibrant colors. We invite you to walk Lynden's grounds to collect a variety of colorful leaves, or choose from the natural materials we have on hand in the studio, to create your own unique collage composition.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden. Younger children should work with an adult.

Stamping is a form of printmaking, and we invite you to drop into the studio for this all-ages introduction to rubber stamp-making. We will create our own personalized rubber stamps from start to finish, and then try out some stamping on paper. You can take your stamp home to use on handwritten letters and envelopes, or to include in your own stationery design.

A Workshop with Claire Hitchcock Tilton

Fee: $85/$75 members (all materials included)
Registration: Space is limited; advance registration required. Register by phone at 414-446-8794, or at the front desk day-of.

Wet felting transforms fluffy wisps of wool fibers into a durable, insulating textile.
We will use the technique of wet felting to turn wool fibers into bags and pouches--from coin purses and pencil cases to laptop cases. In this workshop we will use our arm muscles to agitate the fibers, causing them to fuse together as they shrink and condense. You will leave the workshop with a beautiful, functional, and durable bag of your own design. No experience required (though you will need to stand and exert yourself physically). Aprons provided; please bring a towel and a lunch.

About Claire Hitchcock Tilton

Claire Hitchcock Tilton is an artist, designer, and grower from Milwaukee. She works in many fine art and craft media from weaving and woodworking to painting and gardening. Hitchcock Tilton’s work explores the different ways the rural and urban landscapes affect her relationship to the land. She has studied weaving traditions with Navajo master craftswomen, and fibers, ceramics and woodworking at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. She received a BFA in Integrated Studio Arts from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. Hitchcock Tilton’s time is split between managing the grounds of the Lynden Sculpture Garden and working in her Milwaukee homestead and studio.