Would you like some tasty monoprints with that mocha?

Local cafes prove art and coffee do mix

by Karla Esquivel

Your local coffeehouse isn't just the place that provides you with a jolt of caffeine to jump-start your day, or in some cases get you through it. These days, coffee shops are doubling as mini galleries that just happen to serve a tall latté on demand.

One of the most recent additions to the area is Virginia's American Coffee Bar at 19th and Yesler. Only four months old, this bright space is currently showing some striking works of art from a group of girls (Jill Arnow, Liz Ruest and Julie Vachon), who have a studio around the corner called Porcupine. Owner Ken Clark says he discovered them after they invited him to an opening at their studio. "Their art really spoke to me, and I liked that they were so close," he says. Clark, who rotates the artwork about once a month, likes being able to see something new all the time. "Every art show adds a different energy to the place, and I like that."

Artist Julie Arnow, whose cryptic multimedia monoprints deal with issues of women's bodies, says she thinks of coffee shops as the step between hiding your art in the studio and showing it in a professional gallery. "It's a great way to get yourself out there," Arnow says.

On the other side of the Central District you'll find 21 Union Café. Attached to a Pilates/yoga/karate studio, this quaint little space provides coffee and breakfast for those working out as well as to the neighborhood. It's a tiny little space, which proves that no matter how small your studio, there is always room for art. Owner Dana Belkholm says he generally changes the statues every one to two months. "If they haven't had a gallery show before, it's a great way of getting started," Belkholm tells me. The current show, by photographer Rebecca Nelson, speaks to and about the neighborhood. Entitled On the Streets Where You Live, Nelson captured close-ups of everyday images in just a few city blocks around Union St. and 21st Ave. In Simply Metal, Nelson took photographs of locks, metal gates, nuts and bolts. The pieces make you think of how you can walk on the same street every day, notice every little nuance, but forget it when it is taken out of context. "It's great to have a local artist whose work reflects the neighborhood," Belkholm says.

Down south in Georgetown is All City Coffee. It's a funky and industrial looking cafe where dogs sit solemnly on the porch and artist types sip their lattés, read books and play games. According to co-owner Steve Withycombe, a furniture designer by trade who built the entire coffee bar with his partners, it's never hard to find someone to fill the space on the wall. Saying "no" to art is the hardest thing to do, he says. "Sometimes I have to turn it away because of content. I have to think of the families and kids that come in here," he says.