🎉 HARDLY PARTY Returns: Our Introvert Rager comes back!
Thursday, June 4, 2026 · 6:30 PMBrooklyn Library of Arts & Culture · 10 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn
No forced networking. No agendas. Just the radical practice of being together.
Welcome welcome and thank you for being a friend! We are back at the Brooklyn Library for Arts and Culture and inviting you to the second Hardly Party!
This time around we are creating time to check in AND fundraising for our upcoming Black August Brooklyn Event, which celebrates the 10th Anniversary of #DayOnesArt, our collaborator on the Black Utopian Fellowship. There will be music, puzzles, zine-making, and excellent vibes.
There is no charge for entrance, but every donation is the lifeblood that keeps Culture Push thriving and will make Black August Brooklyn possible.
Black August Brooklyn is a collaboration between #DayOnesArt, Culture Push, and The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Arts (MoCADA). This is a community-centered happening honoring the legacy of Black freedom fighters, political prisoners, and revolutionary thinkers who have shaped liberation movements across generations, uplifting diasporic Black resistance, mutual aid traditions, and creative expression. Collective memory, love and mutual care remain essential!
Please Join Us. Volunteer. Share.
When times are tricky, day ones and chosen family are essential - and we are looking forward to hanging out with you soon!
Learn about the plant Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort) and how to process fibers and make jewelry in this gardener-led activity!
About the Event: A “reversal phytography” workshop working with mugwort.
Starting with an introduction to Naval Cemetery Landscape and the work Brooklyn Greenway Initiative does there in maintaining the space and its native plant species- we will learn about an invasive weed species, common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), and the history of invasion ecology. NCL staff will lead participants in a small weeding demo and we will collect the mugwort we weed for the art-making in a Reversal Phytography workshop.
A word on “phytography”: It is a process where plants react with the silver emulsion on film to reveal and leave behind their internal structure. Shenghan is interested in this process because of its radical collaboration with plants! (You can read more about the technique here: https://kareldoing.net/phy/Phytography.html)
Note that there is no indoor shelter at the NCL and we recommend participants dress in layers as spring weather is unpredictable. We also recommend you bring a full water bottle (refill station on site).
About the Leader: Shenghan Gao forages from many disciplines such as dance, history, film, and cooks with mediums such as 16mm film and performance. She is a Culture Push Fellow in the Fellowship for Utopian Practice and is finishing her Documentary Certificate at the New School.
About the Naval Cemetery Landscape The Naval Cemetery Landscape (NCL) is fully operated and made open as a public space by Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI)through the generosity of our supporters. Before or after the event, enjoy the space and talk to a gardener about the NCL’s native pollinator habitat and contemplative memorial urban meadow and learn about the NCL and the Greenway and what goes into maintaining their beauty and accessibility for every visitor!
This event is free but please make sure to register/get a ticket for each attending member.
Location
Naval Cemetery Landscape. Enter at 61 Williamsburg St West between Kent and Flushing Avenues. Note there is no parking on site.
Public Transit
B57/B62 Bus to Flushing Av/Classon Av (2 min walk)
B48 Bus to Wallabout St/Wythe Av (5 min walk)
J/M/Z Train to Marcy Ave (11 min walk)
G train to Flushing Ave (13 min walk) or Classon Ave (10 min walk)
We are proud to share that Zazel O’Garra, our Disability Arts + Dreaming Fellow, has been named a winner of the 2026 Disability Unite Got Talent artist contest. Congratulations to all the winning artists. The energy behind this contest is a beautiful reminder of how community recognition lifts artists up.
