In our eighth year of recognizing World Refugee Day, 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 2026 is We Belong/You Belong: Joy and Unity Against the Odds.
According to the United Nations, “World Refugee Day was first celebrated on June 20, 2001, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. On World Refugee Day, we celebrate refugees’ contributions and seek to build empathy and understanding for their plight and their resilience to build a bright future.”
We begin with a World Refugee Day Community Celebration on Saturday, June 20, at the Lynden Sculpture Garden from 11 am to 4 pm. Organized as both a resource fair and a celebration of many cultures, visitors will be able to make art, sample food, and enjoy stories, poems, music and dance, and gather information on local services for refugees.
We celebrate World Refugee Day again on Monday, June 22 from 11:30 am to 2 pm at Milwaukee City Hall. The event, co-hosted with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families – Bureau of Refugee Programs, will include a children’s art exhibit, performances of music and dance, poetry from refugee communities, hands-on art-making activities, and food trucks.
For more details: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/home-2026