Hey Garden(ers),
Thursday evening, keīvān led us in a powerful presentation and celebration about Noruz ✦ نوروز and has been gracious enough to share slides with us for those who attended, and those who would like to learn more about its history.
In another corner of our Garden universe, this week Groovy passed down the Garden Gras Monarch crown to Star! Congrats to them, who through a series of rigorous Mardi Gras themed tests persevered to claim the title for 2026! For those who didn't get to come through to Garden Gras yesterday, you can still learn more about Mardi Gras and commune with ancestors via the Game Spot which is located inside of the Farm Offices.
⏰ Our events are generally listed in PST/PDT. Need help converting to your time zone? We recommend using World Time Buddy!
🎙️ Slam Poetry Feature: Invisible Poets Collective // Join us for an evening of spoken word poetry performances by the Invisible Poets Collective! After months of collaborating to write and memorize new poems, this team of queer, nonbinary, disabled slam poets is ready to take the stage. Showcasing poems about ADHD, top surgery, climate change, Interview with the Vampire, disability justice, and queer joy, the Invisible Poets Collective brings fiery energy to their live performances. Come ready to listen, witness, and cheer on the poets! Hosted by coach and national poetry slam champion Ariana Brown, this event is also a fundraiser for the team to travel to Minneapolis in late April to compete at Midwest Poetry Mash-up poetry slam competition. RSVP for April 12th at 5pm PT!
🥬 Want to spend Friday night laughing and cringing? Join Sam every other Friday (next meeting date is Friday April 17th at 6pm PT) to watch “Rutherford Falls”, a lighthearted comedy series about the relationships developed between a fictional small town in the NE USA and nearby Minishonka Nation (also fictional), along with the conflicts that arise. It tackles some heavier topics like cultural preservation and Native erasure with laughter, warmth, and shenanigans. RSVP to get a reminder!
😷 Pollution and Pandemics: The Fight for Safer Environments, Disability Justice, and Black Self Determination, on April 19th at 11am PT, will be a panel discussion diving into the intersections of disability, environmental justice, and safety outside of the state. This space will explore how systems of ableism and environmental racism harm Black folks, making our communities even more vulnerable to the ongoing climate catastrophe. We'll also speak to the importance of COVID vigilance for Black liberation. There will be time for Q&A and group discussion built in. More to come on the three panelists soon! Get more information here: bit.ly/BlackGreenFree (This is a Black only space.) RSVP here! Day Passes will be available for this event.
🫁 Want to increase your lung capacity? Come to Breathing in the Knowledge Nursery! Every weekday at 9am PT. RSVP here!
🍿 Mondays, B will be hosting Black Movie Night, a now weekly movie (and show) night to highlight movies (and shows) made by, for, and about Black people. The media will generally be entertainment focused, but will also include nights where the intention is education. (Black Folks only.) RSVP! Next movie: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
🏋🏾♂️ Movement Mondays: Need to stretch more? Commit to your physical therapy? Do some resistance training? Whatever your movement needs are, this is a weekly time to do your independent movement work, while also being around others who need to move with intention! Weekly on Mondays at 7:30pm PT w/ J Mase & Chanelle. RSVP here!
💃🏾 Co-Twerking is on Tuesdays at 3pm PT with Caroline! RSVP to get notified!
📔 Quiet-ish Reading Club / Connect (QRC) 💜💛📚 meets Tuesdays at 6pm PT! QRC - Garden Edition is where we chill together in mostly quiet company of 45 min reading blocks. Bring your own: book, audiobook, article, magazine, comic book, training manuals, graphic novel, paperwork/forms, poetry, etc. anything you’d like to or need to read. Most of the time will be us practicing sustained silent reading (SSR) in cozy, quiet company together. We will take occasional breaks to chat and socialize - mics optional. Like to be kept up-to-date on QRC meet-ups in Garden? Fill out this interest form. RSVP here
🎥 Name That Movie (Night!) is Wednesday at 5:30pm PT! This week's movie is a romance drama about two New Yorkers who fall in love during the course of a day while one of them faces the looming possibility of being deported to Jamaica. Think you know what it is? Come thru and find out! RSVP via the visit page.
🪷 Stretch it out as Caroline leads us in a weekly afternoon Yoga sesh Fridays at 3pm PT by streaming a yoga video from YouTube and following along. Videos will be between 25-45 minutes long between easy to moderate pace. Drop ins are always welcome! RSVP via the calendar on the visit page.
🫂 The next session of Chronic Illness and Long Covid Support Group will be Thursday April 9th from 5:30pm-7:30pm PT with Chanelle! Navigating everything that comes with chronic illness can be difficult - from managing symptoms to experiencing grief over missing your pre-illness life. This is a peer support space where we can share our feelings about living with any chronic/long-term illness, including long COVID, during an ongoing pandemic. RSVP here!
✍🏽 Are you an aspiring writer? Come join The Storytellers' Anthology which is every other Saturday at 1pm PT (next session is April 11th), hosted by Louis! This group is created for writers who want feedback and constructive criticism on their unpublished literary works, especially for those looking to publish their piece, but just need an extra pair of eyes and encouragement. All genres are welcomed and encouraged. RSVP to attend here.
🎭 Places, theater nerds! At Do You Hear the Garden Sing? we watch musical theatre movies, pro-shots (and some slime tutorials) every other week. This is a space to nerd-out about musical theater, enjoy some tunes and even share some hateful takes ;) Our next watch will be The Phantom of the Opera (2011 pro-shot), a story about a young soprano who becomes the obsession of the disfigured and murderous musical genius that lives beneath the Paris Opéra House. Come join the curtain call on Saturday April 11th at 5pm PST! RSVP!
😷 Hang out, chill and play games with Black folks who take COVID precautions at Bonfire in Garden! The next Bonfire will be Saturday April 18th at 5pm PT RSVP here.
🏳️⚧️ At our first Trans Meetup, the group was unanimous in deciding that Trans Meetup will be a monthly occurrence. Every fourth Sunday in Garden, at 2pm PT will be a day that Trans folks have made! The next meetup will be April 26th! Join us by RSVP'ing here.
❤️🩹 Our Pain We Carry Study Group meets in the Kinship Room on the 2nd and 3rd Sundays of each month (with occasional adjustments around holidays). Upcoming dates for the next few months: April: 12, 19; May 17; June 14 Group begins at 2:30pm PST/ 5:30pm EST for reading and discussion. If you prefer to join after reading, we’ll begin practicing the experiential exercises together around 3pm PST/6pm EST. See Deeda for more information & materials. RSVP.
☕ Sunday May 3rd at 1pm PT, Garden will be hosting its next Social Hour series. Each Social Hour will typically feature a 15-30 min rant// talk// presentation// performance from a Garden member on a subject of their choosing as well as time for folks to meet other members in a casual hang out space with games and activities. Want a place to share your random idea, your new poetic works, to present something special, get feedback or even host at a Garden Social Hour? The format is flexible as needed, and can be a space to practice facilitation skills for those wanting a friendly place to try something new. Want to share your topic at the next, or a future Social Hour? Send us your proposals here! RSVP to attend here.
💻 Do you work from home and sometimes feel a little too isolated from others? Come Co-Work with us in Garden! We are a 24/7 drop in space for folks to join to co-work silently, listen to music, play a game or chat amongst each other in the chat box.
🎞️ The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Creator's Lab is now accepting applications for its professional development programs for emerging and mid-career filmmakers. Selected participants will gain access to mentorship, industry immersion, and opportunities to collaborate with global film professionals.
Programs open for applications:
Director’s Lab
Writer’s Lab
Sloan Science & Technology Writer’s Fellowship
Sloan Science & Technology Project Pitch
Ready to take your work to the global stage? Apply by April 13th!
🧳 The Vilcek Foundation invites nonprofits working to support immigrants through the arts, sciences, education, or social services to apply for one-time grants of up to $20,000 to support their operations or programs. The deadline to apply is April 30, 2026. Submit an application today!
✍🏽 The Black Embodiments Studio (BES) seeks a fully remote/part-time driven, thoughtful, and creative Program Director to join a small arts organization that activates through arts writing, public programming, & publishing and builds discourse around contemporary Black art. The Program Director is responsible for the implementation, supervision, and evaluation of programs that amplify arts writers, thinkers and contemporary black artists. BES programs include multimedia public art projects, artist and writer development initiatives, digital and in-print publications, annual in-person convening, and other efforts to bring artists, arts writers, and their publics together. The Program Director has the strategic mindset to manage effective and efficient scheduling and budgeting protocols, maintain communications among multiple stakeholders, and cultivate greater visibility for programs and their outcomes. The hourly rate is $33/hr and expenses for travel, food and necessary research supplies are covered through BES. This role involves travel to Seattle for the annual convening and possibly for other programming activities throughout the year if necessary. Apply by April 20, 2026.
🌍 The Community Access Fund (CAF) is a new granting stream within Rainbow Railroad, supporting LGBTQI+ asylum seekers in the United States and Canada. The CAF invests directly in local service providers, community activists, mutual aid networks, and grassroots organizations that support newly arrived queer and trans migrants in the US and Canada. Through the Fund, a select number of organizations will receive a small grant of up to $10,000 for projects of up to 1 year in duration. View eligibility requirements & apply by May 29 at 5 pm ET.
🎨 The Sistas Uprising Fund, a charity project to help marginalized women & marginalized genders gain financial support via seed funds, is awarding ten $300 Microgrants to BIPOC Coviding Creatives. Created by Sista Creatives Rising, a grassroots project founded by a Black disabled mother-daughter, these microgrants aid underrepresented creatives who've gone through immense hardship, ensuring they can continue their passion and build upon their dreams. Applications close on April 30th, or when 100 applications have been received.
👩🏽🦼 Abilities Dance Boston is livestreaming two upcoming shows where folks can register for a free ticket! Their Intersections v5 April 17th show at 5pm PT/8pm ET is celebrating Black and Disabled honorees blending advocacy and art. Their second show is Vel'Fyra - Firebird Part 2, a ballet, that will be June 19th at 5pm PT/8pm ET. These shows will only be available during the official livestreamed times, and will not be posted later.
☀️ For those who would like to support this year's Summer Solstice festival in Garden, we are starting to plan early! Want to vend, volunteer, host a workshop, perform, share your art, DJ or offer any of your community gifts? Check out the volunteer sign up form here and submit by May 10th at 11:59pm PT!
📖 The Black Trans Prayer Book, is organizing a Trans Book Fair, where we will be connecting virtually with Trans folks, and our solidarity partners, from all over the US and beyond, while also distributing physical books by Trans Authors to Trans people! If you/your org would like to support this work (attend // fund // be featured // etc), there is a form for that here! We are looking for people and organizations who would like to help us make this happen!
🥐 If for whatever reason, you are in the US and find yourself, or someone you care about, to be food insecure, here are three sites to find food banks where you/they are: Food Finder, FindHelp and Feeding America. If these are not resources you personally need, please share with your folks.
🍉 Centering Palestine has a zoom every Tuesday at 5pm PT, along with other resources to show up for Palestine available here.
😷 World Health Network has a weekly call to organize community members against mask bans every Friday at 12pm PT.
📢 As a follow-up to the Anti-Blackness sessions GenDoc facilitated with us a few months ago, she has graciously provided this Notes on Anti-Blackness write-up which shares some key takeaways about how Anti-Blackness shows up in BIPOC spaces and what non-Black folks can be doing to support dismantling that.
🌻 We are continuing to open Garden up to more community orgs who would like to share space with us here. If you are part of an org that may benefit from office/event space here, please email info@meetatgarden.com
🎉Want to host your birthday, or the birthday of a friend in Garden? Check out our Birthday Guide and email us!
💌 Don't forget, we can design and host non-Garden virtual events too.
Until next our avatars meet,
🪄Al , 🪻J Mase & 🪴Kwaku
PS: Have a one-time-event or a recurring event and need a place to host? Email us at info@meetatgarden.com!
Garden is a free 24/7 space, but it does cost money for us to maintain it on Gather.Town. If you'd like to donate to this work, consider throwing some money in the pot here. To send donations directly through our 501c3 fiscal sponsor, email us!