Tea Haunt Canvas: Bringing Fine Art and Culture to Hartford

by Lily Yu
DTHartford Staff

       In downtown Hartford off Trumbull Street lays a quiet, fine art gallery and tea house. But inside is an explosion of life. Tea Haunt Canvas is a place where people can calm their mind, reflect upon their thoughts and enjoy the fine arts that bring color and culture to life. 
        This fine art gallery and tea house is owned by Parvin Pooya. Pooya grew up as a child in Iran, a country that seemed to constantly be at war. During rough times the people of her homeland, family, and herself survived because they looked to culture and arts as a comfort, a hope. It brought everyone together and made a strong unity. When Iran was invaded by the Arabs, they made structures against many of the ancient images, arts and crafts. As a child, she and her family kept those traditions of music and painting. During Tea Time was a time for understanding and loving each other.

        Pooya had the idea to share this great experience with the Hartford area in the Fall of 2011. She believes that people nowadays find themselves too busy to find spare time for themselves. Pooya explained that the steam of Persian tea told everyone how good it would be if we spent time with each other helping and solving our daily life problems, sharing our happiness or sorrows, or whatever decision one may be facing.

        “For most Iranians, brewing Persian tea with a special machine named a Samovar, means a time for chit chatting, laughing and enjoying. Tea time is a relaxing time after hard work that assists us in finishing a crazy day behind closed doors,” Pooya said. 
         Growing up, Tea time with her father was a large part of her childhood as she was growing up, and she would like to be able to share this experience with society. “When we allocate time for each other we can move the mountains, make history and art. Today we are carried along the current of modern civiliazation; our crucial problems will be disappeared by spending time with each other even for five minutes having tea together and enjoying the art works and sharing our new poem, introducing a new artist or a literary man,” Pooya stated.

       The gallery is very refreshing. “Each wall is such a clean white and each painting stands for its own space, it takes over your eyes. Each painting is full of strong colors and movements. I really liked the fact that it has tables in the middle of the gallery and you can sit down and enjoy some tea, mocha, or whatever refreshments are available,” said nineteen-year-old Lauren Novella.

       “I’m not sure if I understand life in a new way by simply drinking tea and looking at someone’s art work; but I think it’s great to take the time to let my mind settle and to just think about different things. Being able to not worry about everything in my life at once lets my mind expand, be creative, be thoughtful, it gives me time to actually appreciate life,” said nineteen-year-old Briana Torres.

       There is another tea house around the corner and several art galleries located throughout downtown Hartford, but there are no shops that have both. To experience Tea Haunt Canvas or to find out more information visit: http://teahauntcanvas.com/. They can also be found on their Facebook page under Tea Haunt Canvas.

Hours:

Monday-Sunday: 9:00 am- 4:00 pm

Saturday: 10:00 am- 1:00 pm