Reflection on the relationship between artistic beauty and natural beauty can be traced to Immanuel Kant’s 1790 Critique of Judgment. However, events like Garden Conservancy Open Days suggest that the distinction is misleading and that the greatest beauty results from the thoughtful arrangement of Mother Nature’s bounty.
Garden Conservancy Open Days is an award-winning national garden education program introduced in 1995 to share exceptional gardens. On Saturday, July 16, four private gardens will open to the public for a rare opportunity to behold exemplary horticultural artistry.
The participating gardens are the Hill Top House in River Hills, a 15-acre estate manicured to show its 1929 English Georgian-style residence to best advantage; Dragonfly Farm in Mequon, focusing on native species and boasting more than two miles of walking trails; Two Oaks in Grafton, with an English garden landscape; and the Chimneys in River Hills with its formal rose garden and extensive arboretum. The Villa Terrace Renaissance Garden will also have its 16th-century Tuscan-style garden in full bloom. Garden Conservancy Open Days takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to each garden is $7; children 12 and under are free.
Black Cat Alley Fundraising Gala
Upstairs Patio of UW-Milwaukee Kenilworth Building
1915 E. Kenilworth Place
Since graffiti artists operate on the wrong side of the law, anonymity is important. Internationally renowned European graffiti and street artist MTO will show his face in Milwaukee to create a (sanctioned) large-scale mural on the south-facing façade of the Oriental Theatre. The mural has been commissioned for Black Cat Alley, a soon-to-be arts destination of large outdoor murals in the alley between Kenilworth and Ivanhoe avenues. A fundraising gala will be held on Thursday, July 21 from 5-10 p.m. with food, drinks and MTO painting his mural across the street. Tickets for the event are $75 or $125 for VIPs. Visit brownpapertickets.com to purchase.
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Conversation on ‘Too Much Sea for Amateurs’
Haggerty Museum of Art
530 N. 13th St.
Too Much Sea for Amateurs is the project artist Maggie Sasso completed with funds furnished by the prestigious Mary L. Nohl Fellowship. The piece is a recreation of Milwaukee’s Breakwater Lighthouse, standing one-and-a-half stories tall and constructed from durable outdoor fabric on a small sewing machine. On Thursday, July 14, at 6 p.m., research collaborator Laura Meine and moderator Darcie Kileen will join Sasso to discuss how the artist and researcher worked together to reimagine this iconic piece of maritime architecture.
