Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012

Coffeehouses brew java and art to create a cup of culture

Coffeehouses open venues to local artists

cslate@thesunnews.com

Calvin Blassingame with his artwork at the Fresh Brewed Coffee House in Myrtle Beach. 01/05/12 Photo by Charles Slate

 

If you go

FRESH BREWED COFFEE HOUSE

When | Open 3 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays

Where | 933 Broadway St., Myrtle Beach, just west of Myrtle Beach City Hall

How much | Free admission

Information | 251-8282 or www.freshbrewedcoffeehouse.com

Also | Monthly programs include:

• Artist of the Month, with opening reception at 4 p.m. on first Saturday; $5 admission. Next up, Feb. 4, with Blair Browning. Other upcoming artists include Rachel Jones, Gwen Mis, Jeff Norris, Don Perry and Joe Winkler.

• “Art of Business,” for artists, musicians, or anyone wanting to learn more about business, 2-4 p.m. second Tuesday; next up: “Social Media” Feb. 14; $5.

• “Art 101,” covering basics of various art media. First theme is “Ceramics 101” and working with clay, in two sessions: 10 a.m.-noon Saturday and Jan. 21; $25.

COLLECTORS CAFE AND GALLERY

When | 11:30 a.m.-midnight Mondays-Saturdays, with coffee and desserts available anytime; lunch available 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, and dinners 5:30-10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays

Where | 7740 N. Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, across from Stein Mart

How much | Free admission

Information | 449-9370 or www.collectorscafeandgallery.com

Also | Fall Art Show, with more than 100 works, continues through Sunday.

Major artists | All painters from Myrtle Beach, unless noted:

• Michael Craig, gallery co-owner, oil (abstract)

• Thomas Davis, co-owner, oil (travel scenes and portraiture)

• Kimberly Dawn, mixed media (spiritual themes)

• Allison Denton, S.C. photography (travel scenes)

• Bobbie Holt, mixed media (iconic images)

Becky Jones, oil and acrylic (beach and surf scenes, and spiritual themes)

• Connie Logan, oil (travel scenes)

• Liliana Maya, a native Colombian, acrylic (abstract expression).

• From out of town: Rob Crombie of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, oil; Katy Gilbert, a native Briton of Savannah, Ga., mixed media (pop art); and Loli Larson of Florida, oil (portraiture);

Two Myrtle Beach galleries have brewed up extra ways to experience art in coffeehouses.

Fresh Brewed Coffee House will mark a decade in business come October, and the Collectors Cafe and Gallery has been serving up art with coffee, meals and desserts for 18 years.

Both places have celebrated the new year with some twists: Fresh Brewed with three monthly programs, and Collectors Cafe with a new dinner menu unveiled Monday.

Fresh Brewed

Alli Baccus, who coordinates art and events for Fresh Brewed, sat in its gallery Monday with its executive director, Kevin Turner. For a private event there that morning, the seating and tables had been shifted from Saturday, when a reception for Calvin Blassingame began Fresh Brewed’s “Artist of the Month” series for 2012.

Twelve of Blassingame’s drawings, mostly body silhouettes in a jazz theme, surrounded the room, and four works sold on Saturday lined much of one wall.

Baccus said casting the spotlight on an artist from Horry County or Georgetown County every month increases “a sense of community” at Fresh Brewed. Each feature includes an opening reception for the public and then artwork is put on display through the month’s end, accompanied with music. Such access to the artist, Baccus said, sheds extra light on his or her soul and their drive to express themselves through art.

“It’s part of their being,” she said.

Featuring local artists in this format, in a “nontraditional space,” Baccus said, “The focus is not just on coffee, but the artists and their works.”

Baccus said the array of expression of artists enriches society overall, and a coffeehouse accents those ambitions.

“They make the world a better place,” she said. “It’s more than just creating and painting. People feel sense of community. You feel accepted when you walk in the door.”

Bringing more live bands remains the plan for Fresh Brewed, not just for nightly entertainment, but to enhance artist receptions.

“It’s not a sprint,” Turner said. “It’s a marathon.”

He said Fresh Brewed’s perch right downtown, almost next to Myrtle Beach City Hall, adds culture to the scene.

“People are exposed to art who otherwise wouldn’t be. People sit in their booths and start drawing, inspired by the art,” Turner said, happy to see art emerge on a whim.

Baccus, also a violinist and professional photographer, shared insight into her own artistic approach to marketing Fresh Brewed’s art, music and programs, which now include a monthly “Art of Business” seminar for artists, musicians or anyone wanting to learn more about business, and “Art 101,” which covers the basics of various art media.

“It’s a crescendo,” she said. “It’s a gradual process. ... This is the right time and place.”

Baccus said flexibility factors into expanding the coffeehouse’s functionality, through moving furniture around, as well as customizing the ambience of the room and the lighting for each event, whether for art, band or seminar.

“It’s just reconfiguring the feel,” she said, stressing, “Keeping the focus local.”

Turner said without any alcohol sales, Fresh Brewed also welcomes families, and as Baccus said, “It’s loungy and laid back.”

Collectors Cafe

Anna-Marie Swad, art director for Collectors Cafe, relishes the extra roles a coffeehouse can play in offering art and a chance for patrons to meet artists.

“It creates a different environment for people who are dining,” she said. “It provides a little more entertainment. It’s a great conversation piece for people who are out to dinner. After they eat, they’re welcome to walk around the gallery and experience the art.”

The cafe has two main shows a year, each spanning several months. The fall show winds up on Sunday, and the spring show is scheduled to open in April, Swad said.

Whether hanging 100 artworks for a show or throughout the cafe the rest of the year, Swad sees the process as a creative art itself. Sometimes she’ll set a room up, only to take the pieces down to rearrange their placement.

“I have to think about how these will look good,” said Swad, also an artist. “What colors would work with each wall? What sizes of frames work in each room?”

During a seasonal show, Collectors Cafe tries to keep each artist’s works in groupings.

“It’s a better impression,” Swad said, “rather than spreading them around the gallery.”

She called Rob Crombie, for example, from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, one of the cafe’s main artists, among mostly Myrtle Beach-area painters such as Kimberly Dawn and Becky Jones, both known for spiritual themes.

Swad said Crombie will bring his work to the cafe, and diners “from Ohio or wherever” will recognize his work from his website.

Tourists drive business in the cafe, just as local clientele do.

“Art is definitely a spontaneous sort of thing,” Swad said. “A lot of times, it’s just bought kind of on a whim. People say, ‘I have to have that piece of work.’ ”

Outside of shows, the cafe keeps the art in “a constant rotation,” to give opportunities for exposure to newer artists, Swad said.

“The shows: We keep those for people who have worked with us for a long time,” she said.

Art has to fit into a gallery and its style, Swad said, and so do the treats and sweets, for which Collectors Cafe makes all “in house.”

Matt Heath, Collectors Cafe’s general manager, rolled out two new dinner entrees: Sockeyed salmon, which is rubbed with horseradish and oven roasted, served with local sweet potato fennel hash; and Maple Farms duck breast, which is pan seared and served with pancetta braised turnip greens, house pickeled cherries, and preserved cherry demi.

The cafe is also offering a new appetizer: Prince Edward Island mussels with local sweet potato chips. And a new butternut squash soup is supplemented by pancetta lardoons, goat cheese crumbles and crispy shallots.

Heath said the menu undergoes changes at least seasonally, with new specials every week.

Whether with cake, tiramisu or milkshakes for dessert, the menu only adds to “a great ambience,” Swad said.

“This is kind of like, ‘Myrtle Beach is an in place to be,’ ” she said.

On Friday nights, a disc jockey spins the tunes, adding to Collectors Cafe’s aura in art, for friends and families to take in the works and celebrate camaraderie.

“Everyone is just dressed to the max,” Swad said. “It’s totally like the social life place. It’s hip, and it’s a scene.”

Contact STEVE PALISIN at 444-1764.