This past Friday, TEA (Talk. Eat. Art) celebrated their one year anniversary. If you missed it, you definitely missed a treat. Between the special guest speaker, Monica Pearson, a spoken word artist, art pieces, and musical performances, TEA was definitely something that you shouldnât have missed.
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TEA (@TalkEatArt on social media) is the brainchild of Georgia State University Senior and Campus Celebrity, Sienna Brown. TEAâs website describes TEA as âa space for people to gain a deeper understanding of the human experience. Our events are centered around enhancing the lives of the creative person within, while simultaneously igniting social change. Every event is crafted by insightful speakers, talented artists, and delightful refreshments. Each event is unique, and created with the goal of bringing the community together for the greater good.â For a year, Sienna Brown and her TEAm (Ashley Alexander, Kiana Baldon, Jasmine Moore, Daijah Moore, and Gerald Render Jr.) have been putting on this action packed events for people to attend.
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Friday marked the one year anniversary for TEA and was definitely one for the books. It was located at the Artlanta Gallery on Shelton Avenue in Atlanta. The vibe was nothing but positive and uplifting throughout the night. This gallery included many inspiring pieces and was the perfect for this event!
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The Talk part of the night consisted of âthe gospel according to Monicaâ, a motivational speech delivered by the 1st woman and 1st black woman to anchor the 6:00 pm news, Monica Pearson. She spoke on everything from racism to giving inspiration to future journalist. Monica (@monicawsb) gave a down to earth speech that moved everyone in the room, sending a charge out to every demographic that was represented in the room. She strongly advised black men to take their rightful places as the head of the household, and also strongly advised us all to engage in the community and give back. She even went into the importance of the arts saying, âIâm a strong believer in STEM, but I believe we need to add the A, artsâ. She took time to answer questions and even stuck around after for commentary and pictures. She set the stage for what happened to be a wonderful night.
The Eat was amazing as always from TEAâs special take on chicken and waffles. The chicken and waffles was a creatively crafted into small skewers (that were delicious), and there were also many other finger foods such as Quesadillas. Of course, there was tea as well, sweet tea.
The Art was in full effect Friday evening and was amazing. The art in the existing gallery was stunning and TEA brought more art in, as well as live performances. Sage Guillory (@ArtGuillory, a local artist who worked on the artwork for Raurfest, presented a new canvas piece describing how the media feeds us sexuality daily. He also announced that he is about to be putting out a biweekly comic strip.
India Shawn (@IndiaShawn) came by and sang an impromptu a capella of her song ‘All I Have’ as the crowd clapped along. She also announced at TEA first ground breaking news that she will be joining the Crystal Express and touring with Raury (@Raury).
Spelman Senior, DeJah Ault (@toodopeforrehab) performed a spoken word piece sampling Erykah Baduâs “Out My Mind, Just In Time” and speaking on the blunt topic of sexual assault and entrapment that we often see in relationships.
Another performer was Georgia Stateâs very own, Will Hill (@RealWillHill) who said, âPerforming at TEA means a lot to me because it is a very intimate atmosphere and I know most of the people that are attending, so it gives me an opportunity to share a moment with them and enjoy myselfâ. Will performed a set of 5 songs, ending with his latest hit âSuperstarâ.
Ashli Trammel (@ThatsthatAsh_), long time attendee and former volunteer of TEA said that TEA had âgreat vibes and positive energy. This TEA really captured the great family that makes up TEA. The fact that Iâve been hanging out with these people for a year and we all help each other out with our aspirations. That is really was TEA is about.â Â
The TEAversary was overall an amazing experience and was very far from a let down. The atmosphere was inspiring, chill, empowering, comfortable and upheld every part of what TEA stands for, Talk. Eat. Art. If you missed it, keep an eye out on the ones to come by checking on TEA’s site, talkeatart.com!Â