🌀 Perpetual Brew

🌀 Overview

Perpetual Brew is a community project organized by The Tea Stand.

Every single day of April, we'll be serving free tea for all in Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick. You are invited to come for a free cup of tea (or many).

Check the calendar below to see when we'll be in the park (3-6 hours each day):

Times are set a week in advance and are always subject to change!
Follow our Instagram for daily updates on Perpetual Brew.

📜 Brew Log

This entire project – but especially this section – is inspired by Perpetual Stew.

April 1: A soccer ball sped toward The Tea Stand, bounced off a tea tin by my side, and hit me square in the face. It gave me a bloody nose. Blood, check. Sweat and tears coming soon.

April 2: Pushed thru the cold weather and a gnarly headache (maybe from the soccer ball?). A visitor introduced me to the term "herping"... my favorite hobby as a child.

April 3: OH YES! I FEEL REBORN! SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS MAKES ME HAPPY! (Yes, the sun came out today, if but for the briefest of hellos). Also, turtle races!

🪂 Artist Takeovers & Collaborative Zine

Most days of the month, Miles (the founder of The Tea Stand) will be the one sitting in the park and serving tea.

We're also inviting several local artists to "takeover" on select days:

April 6 – Nick Deveau – photographer, curator, scavenger
April 11 – Sabina Sethi Unni – performer, organizer, urban planner
April 13 – Jayshawn Lee – poet, scholar
April 15 – John Grund – illustrator, ceramicist, organizer, gardener
April 16 – Jean Paul Torre – organizer, dancer, mammalogist?
April 21 – Val Yang – illustrator, multidisciplinary artist
April 25 – Zack Young – writer, director, performer

Each artist will create a work of art inspired by their takeover experience in a medium of their own choosing.

We'll feature all of their artwork in a special, collaborative issue of our zine, bōcha. This issue will be dedicated to Perpetual Brew and will be available in both English and Spanish.

**After our 30-day stint of serving free tea, all of the participating artists will contribute a work of art to a special issue of our zine,** **bōcha**.

If you'd like to receive this special issue of bōcha, come to our Perpetual Brew culmination event on July 6th OR sign up as a Steeper and we'll ship you a copy.

🔮 Intentions & Acknowledgements

Perpetual Brew is an extension of The Tea Stand's regular programming, which is grounded in our values of stillness, trust, and sustainability. We seek to create spaces which allow folks to connect with themselves, their neighbors, and the natural world. For more about the why of The Tea Stand, read our manifesto here.

By committing to a full month of daily service with Perpetual Brew, we seek to develop a deeper relationship with the people of Bushwick and Maria Hernandez Park. We want to meet all of our neighbors!

We're inviting local artists to takeover in order to bring in new identities and perspectives to The Tea Stand. We hope that this will enable interactions and conversations to take place which otherwise couldn't due to Miles' identity and experience.

**Jayshawn Lee, a local poet and scholar, and Miles of The Tea Stand offering free poems and tea in Tompkins Square Park in 2023.**

Perpetual Brew is a celebration of public spaces, community art, and all those who visit Maria Hernandez Park.

It is also an experiment – we don't know how this will end up going!

We are forever indebted to all who are helping make Perpetual Brew happen – the artists named above, Sippers and Steepers for sustaining The Tea Stand, Bethania Viana of Mil Mundos for translating the zine, Perpetual Stew for the inspiration, and friends Adin and Naqiya.

Please reach out with any ideas, questions, or concerns :)

Thanks for reading!

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