Please note that this event is postponed to April 8th

There’s so much talk about grief lately: a collective grief of a world that once was, the unprocessed grief after Covid, the grief of being forced to snap back into “business-as-usual,” our personal grief over the loss of friends, family, and even public figures that signalled something meaningful was lost. What a relief that these conversations are coming to the surface! But what exactly is grief? It isn’t quite a feeling. Is it a process? A way of being? 

What if joy is also grief? Not the opposite of, but each a component of the other that is equally as true, palpable, and felt? Maybe our understanding of grief—as only the sorrowful bits—is a performance or an old story that we’re ready to expand beyond. 

Join us for The Joy of Grief, an experimental collaboration between Chelsea Iris Granger and Boyuan Gao with some misfit collaborators and surprise guests! This is a protected occasion where you are invited to collectively grieve with us in a way that can be (dare-we-say) fun.

Anchored by Chelsea's book, So Many Ways to Draw a Ghost: Death, Grief, and Joy, we'll bring to life themes from the book that will be sure to make you feel something real, and maybe something new. 

Expect a live artist conversation, an interactive story component, and some small group guided components. Nothing to plan for. Your authentic self is all the preparation that’s required. 

🌻🌻🌻 We welcome the grieving, the self-grieved, the grief-curious… 🌻🌻🌻

NEW DATE 🗓️:  April 8th, 2026, 5:30-9pm

By purchasing a ticket, you agree to attend the full duration of the event. No one will be admitted after 6pm.

Venue 🪩: Sub Rosa

Books 📓: Chelsea will be selling the 2nd edition of her book at the end of the evening. 

Food/Bevs 🍸🫒:  Light snacks and beverages will be available for purchase at the bar.

No full meals will be available, please plan accordingly

📣 Please read the following agreements before purchasing:

• This is an experience intended for adults and mature audiences.
• This is designed to be a provoking, yet safe, experience. Not a nice conversation. 
• You may experience a range of emotions, some of which may be challenging. We can’t guarantee what you will feel. 
• This topic is not for everyone. Come only if the topic speaks to you.
• This is not a passive event; you will be invited to participate (in a low-stakes, low-pressure way). Participation is an act of generosity to yourself and others.  
• You will be in a space that is gently guided, with proper guardrails. That said, this event is open to different types of people with different opinions and lived experiences. 
• We draw a distinction between opinion and personal story. This experience invites your presence and story! Let your opinions have a break. 
• This is not a substitute for therapy, though you may experience it as being therapeutic. 
• We are artists, not medical professionals. We trust you to manage your expectations and needs. 
• By buying a ticket, you choose to attend the entirety of the event. Please be on time and present with your attention, open-heart/open-mind, and listening.
• Tickets are non-refundable, but can be transferred to someone else. If this is the case, please reach out. (If you purchased a ticket for the original date, 2/25, you should have received an email with exceptions to ticket refunds and how to process.)

Here's some stuff about us, for inquiring minds:

👩🏻‍🦱 Chelsea Granger is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Easthampton. Ma (the unceded territory of the Pocumtuc & Nipmuc people). Painting, drawing, writing, comics, illustration, murals and tattoos are the foundation of her practice. She self-published a book about death and grief titled So Many Ways to Draw a Ghost.

🤷🏻‍♀️ Boyuan Gao is a serial entrepreneur, purveyor of collective mischief, and the co-founder of Joyous Rebellion, a relationship company that brings intimate story-driven experiences to leaders across the country. She lives in a former toilet paper factory in South Hadley with her husband Malik. 

👻 Katrina Goldsaito's award-winning books and performances wade through the depth of human experience to make space for presence and connection. She is the co-creator of ReachYou and author of The Sound of Silence and When Cherry Blossoms Fall. She lives in Amherst in a intergenerational household filled with music and chickens running away from the one rooster.

💃🏾 Akilah Scharff-Teoh is a first-generation Caribbean-American artist and creative technologist based in Western Massachusetts, where she explores the joy and toil of liminal existence. Studio Feeler, her art practice, is a combination of self-actualization, meditation, spiritual embodiment, and ancestral quest-making. While ceramics is her primary focus, Akilah’s quest-making intersects with photography, textiles, and collage. Themes around duality are recurrent in her functional and sculptural forms.

🌺 Sub Rosa is a container for beauty — a gathering place in the heart of Northampton, MA where reverence for the Earth and the pursuit of pleasure collide. Envisioned, designed and stewarded by Rebecca Maillet and Kel Komenda, beyond being a botanical lounge and flower shop, Sub Rosa is a special and beautiful sanctuary place for the LGBTQ+ community. Check out their sister biz, Many Graces.