Meet the Team

Mission

Tea House Collective is a collective of artists and innovative thinkers, brought together by a political, spiritual, and racial alignment. Tea House Collective aims to not be confined by any physical building, leader, or single vision; it becomes a way of living, existing, and caring for others. Tea House Collective gives people the space to create, to exist, to figure out, and lean into. It is not a place to be taken care of but handed the tools to dig out what it means to care for yourself. Tea House Collective represents communal care, the art we produce are our results.

Our Team

Tia Lorenna - Program Manager

Founder and Program Manager for Tea House Collective. As the visionary, I've been thinking of and brainstorming what the Tea House could look like since 2015 and launched the idea late 2020. Traveling the world and living abroad at various points in my life helped shape and define my belief that possibilities are limitless. For the first time, I began believing that I didn't have to wait for an institution or outside source to appoint me as a community leader; I can lead my community by creating space and centering the voices of community members and listening to our needs today. Today I affirm, "we are the ones we've been waiting for" as the South African chant states.



JaMaa - Studio Manager

Hi, my name is Jamaa,

I am a co-runner of the Tea House and our focus is to bring the Black, Brown, and/or queer, community together through the arts. Showing people like me how to express themselves through the mediums. Living in low income areas, we don’t have much room to explore these things in our lives. My part is to help people see that there is a place for them to learn how to be themselves. Outside of the Tea House, I spend time talking to people that have a hard time opening up and try to help them recognize themselves in some way. To help push them in the direction that is best for their visions. As the Tea House continues to help me in this way and many other ways, I want to pass along my knowledge and help bless my community. It's very important that we know how to speak and translate our thoughts in a way that gets our message across. The Tea House is a great place for that.




Asia-Ana Williams - Community Outreach Specialist

Asia-Ana Williams, is a community based educator. Her passion and work in this field happens inside and outside of the classroom. Her love for Black people is a constant motivator to eradicate systems created to harm them. Her lens of being a Black, lesbian woman adds nuance to how she navigates within this system and how she builds community and fosters relationships with the people she fights beside. Her experiences have led her to define what community care looks like to her and lean on her community. Her work with Teahouse Collective has empowered her to use plant care and gardening as ways to connect with and build with her community.