A coffee shop in the city centre is looking for Cardiff artists to use its space and walls to promote and sell their work.
‘Art in the Bar’, at The Little Man Coffee Co, will open on March 18 using the bare walls of the coffee shop as a space for both amateur and professional artists.
The coffee shop had already generated interest from local artists the after Kate Alizadeh, a Cardiff-based illustrator, decorated the wall with a selection of her own work.
She said: “Little Man gave me a lot of artistic freedom with the space, and trusted me to use it well. The space is really great if you’re an emerging artist, or have just moved to Cardiff, because the staff are really friendly and up for getting on board with your ideas.
In fact, the best bit about the space is the staff and the way they want to dream big and encourage creativity in the local community.”
Ms Alizadeh’s follows on from an exhibition of several restored vintage bicycles by Cathays custom bike shop, Punk Bikes,
Rob Cooper, the owner of the cafe, said: “It helped them getting access to a wide range of people and it also helped us to attract a different crowd to the cafe.”
He continued: “There are loads and loads of creative people out there but there is no platform to get their work into the public eye.
“The idea is to provide this space for exhibition, a few artists at a time for a month and they would be able to sale their work as well through bids. This space is open to the public, I want to fill the cafe. Everybody wins.
“So far, we have 15 people interested in the project from all over Cardiff and there isn’t one demographic of people. This is not for people who have plenty of experience but this could be an opportunity for someone who exposes his/her work for the first time and will just make them really happy.”
The Little Man Coffee Co on Bridge Street opened in October 2014 in the empty premises of the Ivor House owned by the Rapport family. Previously a post office, a bank, a mobile phone shop and a kitchenware shop, the buildings had been empty for 18 months when Mr Cooper took the lease.
He said: “When I first visited the space I fell in love with it, its high ceiling and the windows.”
For more information about the exhibition you can contact Rob Cooper at artinthebar@littlemancoffee.co.uk.
