2025 Events

Hot Chocolate Holiday Party

The Hot Chocolate Holiday Party at Nafasi on Centre took place as a free, family-friendly winter gathering that brought neighbors together during the holiday season. The event featured a fancy hot chocolate bar, live caroling, hands-on activities from the Citizen Science Lab, and a holiday marketplace where local vendors offered handmade items.

Toys for Tots partnered with Nafasi to give away toys to children, making the evening especially meaningful for families. Community members stopped in to enjoy the festivities, support local makers, participate in activities, and spend time together in a warm, welcoming atmosphere rooted in the Hill District.

Pre- Kwanzaa Celebration

The 2025 Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration at Nafasi on Centre offered a community-led space to gather, reflect, and prepare for the Kwanzaa season. The event centered Black cultural traditions and encouraged shared learning through creative activities and conversation. Families, elders, and young people spent time together in the space, using the evening as a moment to slow down and connect. The celebration reinforced Nafasi’s role as a place for cultural practice, community memory, and collective presence in the Hill District.

The Community Living Room series creates regular opportunities for open conversation and shared reflection at Nafasi on Centre. Grounded in the idea of coming together across generations, the series invites neighbors, artists, scholars, and community leaders to gather around topics shaped by community concerns and lived experience.

Each session centers dialogue that connects history, present conditions, and local knowledge, with discussions rooted in the Hill District and the wider city. The series supports thoughtful exchange, relationship-building, and ongoing connection among participants, reinforcing Nafasi as a place for collective learning and conversation.

Shirley Movie Viewing

The Shirley movie viewing at Nafasi on Centre took place in May as a collaborative community event with the Pittsburgh Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Held as part of a Night at Nafasi, the screening brought residents together to engage with the story of Shirley Chisholm and her historic role as the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress and a candidate for President of the United States. The event used film as a shared entry point for conversation about Black political leadership, civic participation, and representation, while creating space for neighbors to gather, reflect, and connect through a collective viewing experience in the Hill District.

On Friday, April 25, 2025, the Hill District Tree Planting Ceremony marked Arbor Day with a public gathering at Nafasi on Centre Gallery. Organized in partnership with Tree Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, the City of Pittsburgh, and the Hill CDC, the event included remarks from Ed Gainey. The City planted a magnolia tree to support ongoing community-led planning efforts toward a future neighborhood green space.

The ceremony highlighted the role of public investment, environmental stewardship, and resident input in shaping shared spaces within the Hill.