We hope you’ll join us on January 12th from 11am-2pm for our Radical Nourishment fire building workshop as we learn the fundamentals of wilderness fire building and ponder the question of what we need to keep our spirits burning. This workshop will be led by Pacifico Gonzaga, a Filipino survival enthusiast and therapist. Please feel free to bring in your own knowledge of fire building skills to share.

Please RSVP here for location details. This event is for BIPOC only.

Facilitated by Thai Harris Singer, this workshop will teach you the basics of how to make Fire Cider: a homemade immunity tonic to keep you healthy all winter. There will also be the opportunity for participants to share medicinal recipes and knowledge of their own for the cold weather. We highly encourage you to BYOJ (Bring Your Own Jar) or two to make a jar for a friend or loved one!

Please RSVP here for location details. This event is for BIPOC only.

Tender Table & Maine Coast Heritage Trust are hosting an outdoor gathering under the full moon! Come and enjoy tea & cookies by a bonfire. Feel free to bring treats to share, things to burn in the fire, binoculars to check out the night sky. Be prepared for chilly weather and wear layers.

Please RSVP here for location details. This event is for BIPOC only.

Tender Table invites you to a celebration of Black and Brown joy and community featuring local food and drinks by Flores Restaurant and Bar, Katahdin Kitchen, La Gallera, Le Mu Eats, Lecha, Little Easy Snoballs, Mari: A Mini Bakery, Moonday Coffee, Niyat Catering, Oun Lidos, Sichuan Kitchen, Soul Food Paradise; art for sale by Alejandra Cuadra Ceramics, Fireball Bookbindery by Evelyn Wong, Future Juju, Hinge Collaborative, Pristine Pearls Project, ZagOn Beauty / Palm to Sun retail; and music by DJ Sergio & Kafari!

This event is free and open to the public of all ages and abilities. Food, drinks, and art will be available for purchase.

This event is sponsored by Friends of Congress Square Park, SPACE, and Onion Foundation.

We are excited to invite you to Good Soil Garden, part of Radical Nourishment: Food, Soul & Community for the Future, a collaboration between Tender Table & the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, and part of Parable Path, a framework for community organizing and artistic engagement based on Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Please see below for more info about our upcoming June events!

We have three dates coming up for our Good Soil Garden:

• June 8th is our pre-planting day where we will fill the newly made garden beds with logs and soil

• June 23rd we will continue our pre-planting filling the rest of the garden beds with soil

• June 30th will be our big planting day where we will fill the beds with a variety of vegetables and flowers for the season. 

All of the events will be held in Durham, ME, from 10 am to 3 pm.

We can help coordinate rides if needed. Food, tools, and childcare will be provided. No experience needed. This is a BIPOC only space.

Please RSVP here!

We are excited to invite you to Good Soil Garden, part of Radical Nourishment: Food, Soul & Community for the Future, a collaboration between Tender Table & the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, and part of Parable Path, a framework for community organizing and artistic engagement based on Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Please see below for more info about our upcoming June events!

We have three dates coming up for our Good Soil Garden:

• June 8th is our pre-planting day where we will fill the newly made garden beds with logs and soil

• June 23rd we will continue our pre-planting filling the rest of the garden beds with soil

• June 30th will be our big planting day where we will fill the beds with a variety of vegetables and flowers for the season. 

All of the events will be held in Durham, ME, from 10 am to 3 pm.

We can help coordinate rides if needed. Food, tools, and childcare will be provided. No experience needed. This is a BIPOC only space.

Please RSVP here!

'What Do You Stay Alive For?" is a showcase and resource hub advocating for suicide awareness. There are many external systemic forms of oppression that affect humanity's internal psyche. Since COVID and other local and national events, people have had a harder time pushing themselves to stay alive. By collaborating and having a roundtable discussion with artists writing about mental health and collaborating with organizations who are serving underserved community members in mental health access, Tender Table and the poet laureate program are creating a space to remind people the joy to stay alive.

Featuring poetry readings by:

Arisa White

Brooke Bolduc

Dylan Richmond

Maya Williams

Samaa Abdurraqib

Signature MiMi

Stacey Tran

Veronica Perez

Resource fair with:

Generational Noor

Gateway Community Services

The Yellow Tulip Project

Maine Access Points

Portland Yoga Collective

Community Change Inc.

Tender Table is hosting a live storytelling event featuring BIPOC community members who have been invited to share their stories about food, memory, identity, as well as prepare homemade food to serve the audience.

Our featured storytellers at this event are: Winston (Tony) Antoine, Thai Harris Singer, Julia Asami Smith.

There is a suggested donation of $10-20 at the door to support the storytellers. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

This event is open to the public. Please register for location details.

We are excited to invite you to Good Soil Garden, part of Radical Nourishment: Food, Soul & Community for the Future, a collaboration between Tender Table & the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, and part of Parable Path, a framework for community organizing and artistic engagement based on Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Please see below for more info about our upcoming June events!

We have three dates coming up for our Good Soil Garden:

• June 8th is our pre-planting day where we will fill the newly made garden beds with logs and soil

• June 23rd we will continue our pre-planting filling the rest of the garden beds with soil

• June 30th will be our big planting day where we will fill the beds with a variety of vegetables and flowers for the season. 

All of the events will be held in Durham, ME, from 10 am to 3 pm.

We can help coordinate rides if needed. Food, tools, and childcare will be provided. No experience needed. This is a BIPOC only space.

Please RSVP here!

As we prepare for another planting season at the Good Soil Garden, Mihku Paul will be leading a seedling workshop in Portland, ME.

This event is for BIPOC only. Space is limited. Register here!

We’re getting ready to return to the Good Soil Garden this spring and we are learning to build raised garden beds with Malik Black on Sunday, May 5, from 10-3. Feel free to drop in anytime in this window, all skill levels are welcome, and lunch will be provided. This event is for BIPOC only. RSVP for location details.

**All spots have been claimed, but you may sign up to be on the waitlist. You will be notified within 24 hours of the event if a spot opens up.**

Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower invites us to be bold in our visions of equitable living in a wounded world. And we’re thrilled to invite you to help us expand that vision here at home through Radical Nourishment: Food, Soul & Community for the Future, a series of gatherings designed by and for BIPOC organizers to deepen our connections with each other, our relationship with the land around us, and the power we need to survive and transform the conditions we are rooted in.

In collaboration with Nibezun and local food systems advocate Jasmine Thompson-Tintor, we’ll be walking the land together at Nibezun, learn how to identify different edibles and their life cycles, as well as prepare and enjoy a meal together using local ingredients, such as acorn flour, fiddleheads, and moose meat. Jasmine Thompson is a food systems educator with Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness and manager of Katahdin Kitchen. They love working with the earth’s natural life cycles and collective learning styles. The event will take place at Nibezun, located along the Penobscot River on traditional meeting grounds of the Wabanaki.

Accessible accommodations and rides to the location are available. Lunch will be provided. 

This project is a collaboration between Tender Table & the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, and part of Parable Path, a framework for community organizing and artistic engagement based on Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. This initiative is led by multi-hyphenate musician Toshi Reagon, Bowdoin College’s Joseph McKeen 2022-23 Visiting Fellow, and is supported by Maine Humanities Council, Indigo Arts Alliance and Bowdoin College.

This event is for BIPOC only. Space is limited. Register here!

Tender Table & The Southern Maine Workers' Center are hosting two Intro to Blacksmithing workshops led by Kiran Chapman of Soma Metalwork on April 6 & 7. Register below!

Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower invites us to be bold in our visions of equitable living in a wounded world. And we’re thrilled to invite you to help us expand that vision here at home through Radical Nourishment: Food, Soul & Community for the Future, a series of gatherings designed by and for BIPOC organizers to deepen our connections with each other, our relationship with the land around us, and the power we need to survive and transform the conditions we are rooted in.

We'll learn the basics of blacksmithing from Kiran Chapman (he/they), a metalworker and bladesmith who runs their own small business and teaches classes out of their workshop in North Yarmouth. This half-day class is offered on both Saturday and Sunday and will focus on two small metalworking projects that relate to our relationship with land and food: farmhouse-style wall hooks and hanging seed dishes.

You don’t need any prior knowledge of blacksmithing or Parable of the Sower to join us. Accessible accommodations and rides to the location are available. Lunch and childcare will be provided. 

Space is limited. These events are for BIPOC only.

REGISTER HERE

Tender Table & The Southern Maine Workers' Center are hosting two Intro to Blacksmithing workshops led by Kiran Chapman of Soma Metalwork on April 6 & 7. Register below!

Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower invites us to be bold in our visions of equitable living in a wounded world. And we’re thrilled to invite you to help us expand that vision here at home through Radical Nourishment: Food, Soul & Community for the Future, a series of gatherings designed by and for BIPOC organizers to deepen our connections with each other, our relationship with the land around us, and the power we need to survive and transform the conditions we are rooted in.

We'll learn the basics of blacksmithing from Kiran Chapman (he/they), a metalworker and bladesmith who runs their own small business and teaches classes out of their workshop in North Yarmouth. This half-day class is offered on both Saturday and Sunday and will focus on two small metalworking projects that relate to our relationship with land and food: farmhouse-style wall hooks and hanging seed dishes.

You don’t need any prior knowledge of blacksmithing or Parable of the Sower to join us. Accessible accommodations and rides to the location are available. Lunch and childcare will be provided. 

Space is limited. These events are for BIPOC only.

REGISTER HERE

It’s cold outside! Treat yourself to a rejuvenating evening with the sauna, pool, and snacks at Washington Baths with fellow BIPOC community members.

Entry is $35. If cost is a barrier, click here to reserve a free pass. Limited quantity available. Priority to our friends who are Black, Wabanaki, Palestinian, working class, disabled.

No reservations. All genders welcome. Bathing suits required in common areas. Towel rental is $3, and sandals are available to borrow with admission. We recommend you bring your own towel and sandals if possible. Please do not bring outside food or drink (reusable water bottle is okay & encouraged). Snacks and beverages available at the cafe. This event is reserved for folks who are BIPOC. Check-in no later than 8pm.

Come to Wild Mountain for a potluck style tea party and a dip in the lake!

Come rest and play with fellow BIPOC! Bring your own lunch, a blanket, and whatever else you need to be comfy.

We’ll meet at the Casco Bay Lines Ferry Terminal on Saturday 8/12 at 10 AM to board the 10:15 AM ferry together.

“Civilization is to groups what intelligence is to individuals. It is a means of combining the intelligence of many to achieve ongoing group adaptation.” —Parable of the Sower

If you knew your community’s way of life faced impending destruction, what could you do about it? Would you have the courage to leave behind a structure you knew was doomed? And what would you seek to build in its place? In Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler answers these questions with Earthseed, a faith and philosophy that protagonist Lauren Olamina creates from her observations of a world in peril and her dreams of survival. 

Octavia’s Parables invite us to be bold in our visions of equitable living in a wounded world. And we’re thrilled to invite you to help us expand that vision here at home through Radical Nourishment: Food, Soul & Community for the Future, a series of gatherings designed by and for BIPOC organizers to deepen our connections with each other, our relationship with the land around us, and the power we need to survive and transform the conditions we are rooted in.

This project is a collaboration between Tender Table & the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, and part of Parable Path, a framework for community organizing and artistic engagement based on Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. This initiative is led by multi-hyphenate musician Toshi Reagon, Bowdoin College’s Joseph McKeen 2022-23 Visiting Fellow, and is supported by Maine Humanities Council, Indigo Arts Alliance and Bowdoin College.

Join us for our first workshop: "Good Soil" on Sunday, June 25th, 11am-2pm in Durham, ME.

Good Soil is the first of our workshop series focusing on interdependence and togetherness along with sustainable and tangible community growth and learning. At this workshop we will prep the soil and land on a plot at Celebration Tree Farm in Durham, Maine for planting and growing, bask in each other’s warm company, and reflect together about the conditions that support us to flourish.

Accessible accommodations are available and rides will be provided to the location, along with tools, food, and childcare.

This event is for BIPOC only.

REGISTER HERE

It’s been a minute, and we’ve missed you! Tender Table invites you to enjoy some warm treats with us in these cold, dark times. Come get warm and cozy at our second virtual Soup Night!

We’ll be delivering homemade soups in the Portland area. Deliveries will go out on February 27th, and our virtual Soup Night will be on Wednesday, March 1 from 5-7pm on Zoom. Registration is required to receive a care package including homemade soup & other cozy treats! We have a limited supply of 30 care packages available. Deadline to register for a care package is Wednesday, February 1. Register at tinyurl.com/tt-soup-2023. This event is only for people who identify as BIPOC.

Hear author Phuc Tran read from his award-winning memoir Sigh, Gone while listening to the music that inspired his writing. Watch and listen to the dynamic Tanuja Desai Hidier, award-winning songwriter and author, perform a reading and share audio/visual pieces. And relish in the power that is Signature Soul, the spoken word, eclectic hip-hop duo, also known as Marco Soulo and Signature MiMi.

Sandwiches by Vy Banh Mi and beverages will be available for sale thanks to co-sponsors The Public Works and Kit NA. Food will also be available for purchase.

This event is free.

Books will be sold by Kelly’s Books to Go.

Tender Table invites all to a celebration of Black and Brown joy and community featuring local food and drinks by Công Tử Bột, Yardie Ting, Dream Sweets, Kelsey Mari Morgan, Moonday Coffee, Little Easy Snoballs; art for sale by Jenny Ibsen, Future Juju, A Clearing, Loquat, Fireball Bookbindery; music performances by Kafari and Alejandro Graciano; tarot readings by LaLa Drew; a braiding circle facilitated by Veronica A. Perez; and a family-friendly art corner hosted by Love Lab Studio. 

This event is free and open to the public of all ages and abilities. Food, drinks, and art will be available for purchase.

Tender Table’s Food and Art Fair is sponsored by Friends of Congress Square Park, the Portland Food Co-Op, Maine Initiatives, Maine Writers and Publishers, Portland Museum of Art, Maine College of Art and Design, FUBU Fund, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, and SPACE.

We still need volunteers to help out at our event! SIGN UP HERE

**BIPOC only**

Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who is Portland, Maine's seventh Poet Laureate. They have published in venues such as Homology Lit, glitterMOB, Indianapolis Review, The Portland Press Herald, and more. Ey was one of three artists of color selected by the Indigo Arts Alliance to represent the state of Maine for The Kennedy Center's Arts Across America series in 2020. You can follow her work at mayawilliamspoet.com

Tender Table is partnering with Maine Humanities Council to host a two-part discussion group to dive into Octavia Butler's novel Wild Seed. These sessions will be held virtually on Zoom on April 9 & 23 at 11am-12:30pm. This event is reserved for folks who identify as BIPOC living in Maine. Contact us for more info.

Braiding circles are intimate community gatherings focused on braiding a three strains braid while conversing about identity, experience, and belonging. It started as a way to create more braids for the larger sculptures and turned into a place for honest and open conversation to be held.

The braiding circles came about through the need to create a space for open community conversation and to work toward the goal of communal healing through storytelling and braiding. This deepens understanding and empathy and enables folks to see humanity through emotions more clearly in the work.

For March's First Friday, join Lunder Institute Residential Fellow Veronica Perez and their co-organizer Stacey Tran for an evening of art, music and poetry focusing on Black and Brown voices from Maine. Stemming from Perez’s developing sculptural work composed of hair and storytelling, this event invites audiences to consider their own intimate experiences of identity and belonging.

• Music & Poetry by Signature Soul: Signature MiMi & Marco Soulo

• Art by Veronica Perez and Jenny Ibsen

Stick around after the program for Open Studios with the Lunder Institute Residential Fellows and Colby Artist in Residence. Meet the artists working at Greene Block + Studios and tour their studio spaces. For more information about the Lunder Institute Residential Fellows, visit: https://www.colby.edu/lunderinstitute/lunder-institute-residential-fellows-spring-2022/

Tender Table invites you to enjoy some warm treats with us in these cold, dark times. Come get warm and cozy with us at our virtual Soup Night on Zoom. We’ll be delivering homemade soups in the Portland area and Waterville in Maine. Deliveries will go out on February 11-12 and our virtual Soup Night will be on Sunday, February 13 at 5-7pm.

Tender Table invites all to a celebration of Black and Brown joy and community featuring local food and poetry by Mainers of color!

This event is free and open to the public of all ages. Food and merchandise will be available for purchase.

Tender Table Food & Poetry Fair is sponsored by Friends of Congress Square Park, the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Portland Food Co-Op, and SPACE, in partnership with the Lunder Institute for American Art.