Tulips in the Garden:
A Black Queer Supper Club

Tulips in the Garden is a soft landing space for Black Queer women, femmes, and gender non-conforming millennials in Durham, North Carolina. We queer Sunday dinner, celebrate Black Queer joy, and foster in place-based solidarity.

tulips in the garden

gatherings

We queer Sunday dinner by hosting gatherings that center Black Queer joy, nourishment, and community building. With staple gatherings, we partner with local non-profits or community initiatives to give back, ensuring that the love we cultivate around the table extends back into the wider Durham community.
<<photos by marwa ali

Founder & Host

Maurisa li-a-ping

Maurisa is a Writer & Cultural Strategist. She built Tulips in the Garden to prioritize and nurture Black Queer millennials' interiority. She sought to create a safe space that reclaims and celebrates our softness, resilience, and collective joy. When she isn't stewarding tulips in the garden, you can find Maurisa practing yoga and partnering with mission-driven organizations to build people-centered cultures.

Partner With Us

Tulips in the Garden grows from community care, collaboration, and love. Whether you’re an individual, organization, or local business, there are many ways to help us thrive.[email protected]

tulips in the garden

Ordinary Intimacies

Ordinary Intimacies is a living archive that explores the sweet play, nuanced conflict, aging wisdom, and daily routines that shape Black Queer life. Over food, drinks, and soulful conversation, we will sit down with Black Queer women, femmes, and gender non-conforming millennials to reflect on the stories that live in the group chat, voice notes, and journals. Each conversation and guest will be honored with an online feature contributing to our living archive.

meet the team

get involved

We invite you to take part by nominating yourself or helping sustain our archive. Each path supports an space where current and future generations can recognize themselves through our shared ways of loving, gathering, caring, laughing, and making meaning.

meet the team

  • Maurisa Li-A-Ping is a Writer & Cultural Strategist based in Durham, NC. When she's not stewarding community or partnering with organizations, you’ll find her on a trail walk, painting her nails pink, writing, or practicing yoga.