Millennial black plant enthusiast and self-proclaimed “plantrepreneur,” Colah B. Tawkin will hold a live recording of her podcast, Black in the Garden, at Cheekwood’s Black Arts Bash on Saturday, August 20 at 10 am.
“Nashville’s Black Arts Bash event will celebrate Black culture and horticulture at Cheekwood similar to the way that the ‘Black in the Garden’ podcast does in every episode,” said Tawkin. “In the spirit of Black joy and kinship with plants!”
The 25-minute show will be centered around how past contributions from the Black community to horticulture impact the present and future. It will feature a conversation with Nella Pearl Frierson, known by many as ‘Ms. Pearl,’ about her Brooklyn Heights Community Garden, a non-profit, half-acre urban farm. The garden, located on formerly vacant lots, has greatly impacted the Brooklyn Heights community in Nashville, Tenn., a historically Black and low-income neighborhood. Ms. Pearl’s mission is to provide a community-building hub to honor the land, nurture people, and inspire a more beautiful, loving world. After the recorded interview with Ms. Pearl, Tawkin will discuss her journey, some Black botanical trivia and take questions from the audience.
The ‘Black in the Garden’ podcast celebrates the past, present and future of Black plant enthusiasts and is a Top 2022 podcast recommendation by BET, Essence and Apple Podcasts. Find the show on your favorite podcast platform.
The Black Arts Bash will celebrate Black culture, showcasing music, visual art, dance, spoken word and more.
Other events include:
- Performances on the Arboretum Lawn Main Stage, include genre-bending songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Khrys Hatch, acoustic soul singer-songwriter Larysa Jaye, the Sankofa African Drum and Dance Company, alternative R&B/soul singer Lauren McClinton, jazz trumpeter Rod McGaha and more.
- Black Arts Bash Fine Art Exhibition, featuring works by rising 10th to 12th grade students from the greater Nashville area who identify as Black, or mix-race alongside works by seven local artists. The exhibition will be on view in the Frist Learning Center Great Hall through Sept. 2, 2022.
- Cuisine from Onyx Food chefs, including David Swett, Jr.; Albert Lovelace; and Troy Stovall. Home cooked favorites will be available for purchase from 11 am-8 pm.
- A Community Quilt Activity, where guests will learn about the colors and symbols in African textiles, including Kuba cloth, Adinkra cloth, and Mudcloth and see how artists brought these fabrics to canvas. Participants will choose a fabric square and use stamps depicting traditional symbols and designs to create their own design. Each completed square will be added to a larger canvas to create a ‘community quilt’ display. The activity will take place in Massey Auditorium inside Botanic Hall from 12–5 pm.
Reservations are required for the Black Arts Bash which runs from 9 am-9 pm on Saturday, Aug. 20. Admission is free for Cheekwood members. Tickets for not-yet members are $20 Gardens Only or $25 for Gardens & Mansion. To purchase tickets, visit <cheekwood.org>.
The Black Arts Bash is sponsored by Bank of America and Ernst & Young.
