Start your week with a mindful moment of reset and reconnection at the Garden, every Monday at 8am!

Join us Monday morning to sip something warm, connect with neighbors, and ease into the day. We will have space for socializing and space for quiet reflection and journaling.

Drop in anytime. Bring a beverage, your breakfast, a journal, or nothing at all.

hosted by Zoe & Friends

Summer is officially here as the sun reaches it’s northernmost point in our sky. On the longest day of the year we’ll gather in the Garden for a sunset potluck.

Activities include a celestial time-keeping demonstration, letter writing reflection, and solstice art creation. Plus an open mic will be stationed on the lawn for any and all aspiring poets, musicians, and spoken word performers.

What better way to celebrate the summer solstice than to help rewild a vacant lot! Together, we’ll kick off the physical transformation of this community rewilding project called Temperance Alley Sanctuary. We’ll teach you about DC’s native plants and we’ll plant in a variety of native plants to transform this vacant lot into a community space and living classroom that restores native biodiversity. Afterwards, we’ll celebrate with good food and vibes at the Summer Solstice Party!

The Temperance Alley Sanctuary is a community rewilding project of the Temperance Alley Garden – a place to quiet down, to observe, and to cultivate reciprocity between ourselves and the land. We welcome you to join in rewilding this urban lot to bring back native biodiversity, a time capsule of DC’s Indigenous history, and an ecological classroom to practice community land stewardship.

Hosted by Chandan and Amy.

Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District (FTD), every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard. There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects.

As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!

Writer’s block? Not enough time?
Daydream of being a Director? Scriptwriter? Producer? Cinematographer? Actor? Editor? Or seeking a good time?

Let’s lean into play and discover our films together! Meet your neighbors at Temperance Alley Garden (TAG) and disperse to make a short together in 12hrs.

Here is how the day will go:

💭 Saturday 6/20 at 8-10am - Meet up, form groups (if interested) and brainstorm ideas for the short films! Feel free to come with a basic premise but otherwise the full process should take place over the weekend. It's ok to just arrive with a blank slate too! We will have brainstorming ideas for types of characters, settings, and plot lines for crafting a short film.

🎥 We invite you to discover your film by spending the day around the city, writing/filming/editing and other chaotic inputs of making a film. The goal is to keep films to around 3 minutes. It does not have to follow traditional formats, we encourage play and new ideas for what a film could (a series of vertical videos, etc.) "Zero Budget" works encouraged - phones will suffice for video and iMovie/Canva can work as an editing software.

🍿 7:30pm at Temperance Alley Garden- We gather to watch our creations! Snacks, drinks and great company provided. Prizes (see below) will be awarded!

This doesn’t have to be an all day undertaking! You are welcome to immerse deep in the filmmaking process for the whole day or simply act as a background extra for a couple minutes. We would love to have you! Invite your creative friends and artistic rivals!!

Absolutely no experience is necessary - let's just enjoy playing with film together!

Grand Jury Prizes:
🏅 Most Niche DC reference
🏅 Most Niche Temperance Alley Garden reference
🏅 Most Daring*
🏅 Most Experimental
🏅 Silliest Musical Moment
🏅 Silliest Flashback Moment
🏅 Silliest Dance Sequence
🏅 Silliest Use of Color
🏅 Most whimsical

*Don’t get arrested

Come gather for some productive artistic time together while the garden is blooming around us. Bring a project you're working on, your instrument of choice, or just come socialize with fellow creatives. Some basic art supplies will be provided.

Hosted by Cory & Creatives Club DC

Join us for the 4th Annual Juneteenth Celebration at Harrison Recreation Center, a family-friendly gathering honoring Black culture, liberation, and community.

This day-long event will feature a vibrant mix of activities, including a boxing exhibition, a spirited basketball tournament, live GoGo music, and sets from a local DJ. Community partners such as Hostels Guild, U Street Main Street, Long Live GoGo, FREE DC, and others are coming together to bring the block to life.

In addition to performances and sports, you’ll find vendor tables and local resource booths offering information, inspiration, and neighborhood pride. Whether you’re coming for the music, the games, or the good company, all are welcome to celebrate freedom and fellowship in the heart of U Street.

Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.

Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.

Come LET LOOSE and PLAY while connecting with your emotions.

Improvisational theater is an unplanned, spontaneously and collaboratively created experience that exists only in the present moment. It fosters a sense of play which allows us to interact and get to know each other in a novel away..at least for adults!  
PLAY at the Garden will be a series of games inspired from improv, clown, etc., that help us align with being present in the moment. It will culminate in a 10-minute montage where we can take what we learn in the games to play with our neighbors and create an experience that will never exist again.

hosted by Kristina & Kunal

All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the beautiful greenery and open blue sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).

Our dedicated time for reflective listening to all that’s budding within the Garden ecosystem. The rearview mirror where stories from the previous month can be shared in community. Bring a TAG story to share or discover one based on the evening’s prompts.

StoryKeeping Circles are held on the middle Monday of each month. All are welcome to participate fully.

hosted by Josh & Aaron

Join us at the garden to sing our favorite songs together! Bring an acoustic instrument or just your voice. We'll have a few popular songs' lyrics and chord progressions printed out already, but we'll mostly be shouting out song suggestions during the event and looking up the chords on our smartphones (share with your neighbor if they don't have one). The vibe is more late nite campfire, not improv jazz jam. Bad singers highly encouraged to attend!

hosted by Claire

Start your week with a mindful moment of reset and reconnection at the Garden, every Monday at 8am!

Join us Monday morning to sip something warm, connect with neighbors, and ease into the day. We will have space for socializing and space for quiet reflection and journaling.

Drop in anytime. Bring a beverage, your breakfast, a journal, or nothing at all.

hosted by Zoe & Friends

Some of the most meaningful moments happen when we slow down long enough to notice what we care about and who we share it with. This is an afternoon gathering in collaboration with sunni side up studio where we'll explore the values that are important to us and practice being present with the people around us. Through garden wandering, journaling, verbalizing personal values, a playful activity centered on our common ground, and guided discussion, we'll practice showing up fully, together.

hosted by Kunal and Sarah

Join Sisi Soul Shine for the Soul Shine Theater Garden season 2 opener. We will play, breathe, hear what Sisi is doing/has coming up, and gather in collective joy, inviting joy not absent of grief, heartache, tragedy but alongside and despite of.  This opener will include abundant offerings:

• Embodying the Elements movement practice, 

• A presentation about the first Soul Shine Theater Garden after school residency "Imagining the Elements: Learning History through Nature and Imaginative Play"  at Choptank Elementary that taught about Maryland landscapes and Harriet Tubman,

• An introduction to and exploration of Playback Theater for theater and garden folks, ending with arts and crafts. Playback theater is an improvisational form of theater where a person shares a story and an ensemble plays back that story through acting/dance/song/music. A few folks from the garden community when prompted by Sisi will be asked to tell a story so that the ensemble can practice/learn. We will learn, explore, and be curious together!

• Ending with a North Star themed arts and crafts activity led by Chelsea Dee Harrison of Wild Seed Productions and a special invitation to Sisi’s next performance at Wild Seed Production’s Juneteenth event 

Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District (FTD), every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard. There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects.

As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!

POSTPONED DUE TO STORMY SKIES ⛈️

Rumba Queer will help us bring the garden to life through dance! Join us for a beginner-friendly salsa lesson and dance social for neighbors and friends to connect through joy and movement.

Rumba Queer is a DC-based social dance group who host salsa and bachata socials all over the city. Rumba Queer's mission is to create a vibrant, affirming, and joyful space where LGBTQ+ individuals and allies can celebrate Latin dance, culture, and community. Rumba Queer hosts events for all identities and expressions where everyone, regardless of gender identity or dance role, is welcome to lead, follow, or flow in between.

All levels welcome. No dance partner required. As always, Garden events are free and open for anyone to just drop in. For this event, the model is pay-what-you-can, $10 suggested donation, to compensate our salsa instructors.

Join us for a unique and intimate Sound Journey inspired by ancient practices learned through the traditions of monks in Nepal.

This immersive experience invites you to slow down, reconnect, and journey inward through the healing power of sound. Using Tibetan singing bowls, voice, flute, and intuitive sound, you will be gently guided into a deep meditative state. The vibrations work throughout the body to release tension, calm the nervous system, clear emotional blockages, and restore a sense of balance and harmony.

This is more than a sound bath—it is a sacred space for reflection, healing, and reconnection with your true self.

What to expect:
• A peaceful and welcoming atmosphere in nature
• Guided relaxation and meditation through sound
• Tibetan singing bowls, flute, voice, and intuitive sound healing
• Deep rest, inner stillness, and nervous system restoration
• An opportunity to reconnect with yourself on a deeper level

No previous meditation experience is necessary. Simply come as you are, bring an open heart, and allow yourself to receive.

hosted by Maggie and Zoe

Month Offline welcomes you to a gallery and graduation party with the members of our May cohort!

These brave doomscrollers switched to a dumbphone for the whole month and participated in weekly creative challenges related to the smartphone-shaped hole in their lives. They explored themes like Communication, Navigation, and Boredom as they time traveled to the 1990s. At this closing exhibition, the Month Offline cohort will share what their experience was like and showcase the projects they made with all their newfound freetime.

This is (of course) a phone-free event—you'll be asked to put your phone away at the gate. Call 1-844-OFFLINE to learn more.

hosted by Olivia, Aaron, and Josh

Join us for a soft morning of sun printing and mindful birding!

We will start early with a quick workshop on sun printing with turmeric and will each make a print! While those bake in the sun, we will take our time listening to the birds around us and reflect on what we are hearing and seeing. After our sun prints have fully baked and we have spent ample time with the birds, there will be the option to intensify the effect on your sun print with a baking soda water bath!

Feel free to bring your own breakfast! We will have tea available.

hosted by Alexis and Alaanah

Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.

Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.

THE LOVERS is a debut short film by writer Will Diana. It is about a woman who conducts a satanic ritual to find love at any cost, and is soon confronted with the horror of loving someone who mirrors her every desire.

With a 15-minute run-time, we will have a quick reception, screen the film, and have a Q-and-A with the director and actors.

hosted by Ryan and Kendall

All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the beautiful greenery and open blue sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).

Start your week with a mindful moment of reset and reconnection at the Garden, every Monday at 8am!

Join us Monday morning to sip something warm, connect with neighbors, and ease into the day. We will have space for socializing and space for quiet reflection and journaling.

Drop in anytime. Bring a beverage, your breakfast, a journal, or nothing at all.

hosted by Zoe & Friends

THE ecological-improvisation band from Philadelphia is COMING BACK to the Garden!

Performing aviary and environmentally inspired improvised music within the tradition of creative music, BORBS utilizes a vast instrumentarium drawn from jazz, classical music, world music, and everyday life (french horns, bass clarinet, homemade wood flutes, electric guitar). —Oh and did I mention that they play adorned in homemade outfits featuring giant painted bird heads!

Come at 5:30pm for a bird & nature walk to get in the mood, followed by an all-improvised live performance at 6pm. No registration required!

Led by Aaron Pond, BORBS has crafted site specific performances for  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology,  Reforesters Laboratory, and Rhoneymeade Farm. You can listen to their music here.

Co-sponsored by the DC Bird Alliance <3

Accessibility: Events are always free to attend, with optional donation available to support the hosts. Temperance Alley is accessible by Metro from the U Street station and by the 90 and 96 bus lines. Parking in the alley is at your own risk. The garden is at street level, in an alley directly behind 13th Street. There are no stairs to enter but the ground is uneven and unpaved in most places. A variety of seating is available and can be moved to accommodate any needs. The space is outdoors, open air with limited shade structures. There is NO BATHROOM on site. The nearest public bathroom would be the Brew on U Café or 14th Street Trader Joe’s. If you have additional accessibility questions or concerns, please reach out <3

Have a shirt that just doesn't fit quite right? Or, pants that have been collecting dust in the back of your closet? Maybe you just want something new for the summer. Join us in the garden for a fun, sustainable, and community-centered closet refresh.

We will set up a couple of changing booths with mirrors so people can try things on. Participants are free to take as much as they want or need, no direct trade required. At the end, participants can take back any special pieces that were not exchanged. Any clothes left over after the event will be sorted and either donated to a DC-based mutual aid group or recycled.

hosted by Jules

Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District (FTD), every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard. There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects.

FTD’s annual Plant Giveaway Fundraiser, with extra crops for folks to grab such as basil, dill, pak choi, kale, collards, tomatoes, tomatillos, hemp, & more, with peppers, eggplants, cukes, melons, & squash to follow later in the month! There are also houseplants for you to take home including spider plants, wandering dude, & succulents. Additional giveaways include nursery planters/trays, larger pots/containers, pawpaw seedlings, and more goodies! The model is pay-what-you-can, $5/plant suggested donation, cash & venmo accepted. All proceeds will go towards Farm The District, the urban farming parter of Temperance Alley Garden.

As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!