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Chapel Hill cafes display a variety of local artists' works

Nature photographs by artist Stan Lewis are displayed at Open Eye Café in Carrboro.   As a part of its mission, the cafe regularly features the work of local artists on its walls.
Nature photographs by artist Stan Lewis are displayed at Open Eye Café in Carrboro. As a part of its mission, the cafe regularly features the work of local artists on its walls.

From month to month, the visual ambiance of Chapel Hill’s Cup A Joe cafe is never the same. Sometimes, pictures of stumps line the blank white walls. Other months, fantastical landscapes lend the shop a magical air.

It all depends on the art.

During the month of November, Chapel Hill artist and UNC alum Tola Oguntoyinbo displayed his mixed media and acrylic paintings at Chapel Hill’s Caffé Driade and Cup A Joe, adding color to the spaces and leaving patrons staring at walls for hours.

Oguntoyinbo’s large-scale painted wood pieces feature vivid, abstract landscapes and human-like figures.

While he isn’t concerned with earning a living wage through his art, the artist hopes to display his favorite works in a place other than his home.

“It’s great to not just have your work in a studio,” Oguntoyinbo said. “It’s a more casual space.” The Chapel Hill artist’s chief employment is at a software development startup.

Elizabeth Meunier, co-owner of Open Eye Café in Carrboro and Chapel Hill’s Caffé Driade, said she understands the importance of giving both budding and established artists the opportunity to display their work without paying a commission.

“My father’s an artist and I know how hard he worked,” Meunier said. “I couldn’t do that to anyone.”

Coffee and creative spaces

Walking into Open Eye, it’s hard not to feel inspired. From scrap-art sculptures at the cafe’s entrance to vintage doors leaning nonchalantly against walls, the shop seems almost to breathe a creative aura.

Often called the town’s living room, the coffee shop has earned this epithet in its more than 10 years of existence. Residents flock to the space for non-corporate coffee and to immerse themselves in a visually stimulating setting.

The owners’ commitment to giving local artists and musicians the opportunity — at no cost — to share their work within the context of a small, friendly community fits this living room moniker well.

Nature photographs by Stan Lewis, which feature curious-looking close-ups of flora and fauna, hung from the cafe’s walls during the month of November.

Meuiner’s other shop, Caffé Driade, is small and intimate. Nestled in the trees along East Franklin Street, the cafe is quieter than the bustling Open Eye, but the two shops share similar qualities.

Potential applicants to work at both shops are encouraged to submit a piece of art that is indicative of their passion for coffee.

Lisa Ramsden, a recent job applicant to Driade, created a large collage in the shape of a latte during her application process. Doubling as a written letter, the piece expressed her desire to contribute to Driade’s creative coffee culture.

Cup A Joe, run by local coffee roasting company Joe Van Gogh, strikes an unusual pose in Chapel Hill’s Timberlyne shopping center. From the outside, it’s less than extraordinary.

But inside, the bright, busy art work on the wall tells a different story. Oguntoyinbo’s work adds to this ambiance.

Oguntoyinbo feels that his art is “too unusual” for more structured spaces, he said.

He finds the gallery process subjective, he said.

More than bypassing galleries, the artist hopes to make the spaces where his work is displayed a little more intriguing.

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“If it helps places look a little cooler, I’ve done my job,” he said.

Defining a culture

Unconventional art spaces like Cup A Joe aid local artists, just as they are inseparable from cafe culture itself.

“Everyone notices the one or two day gap when there’s no art,” Cup A Joe barista Kemp Watson said. “You’ll see people stop and stare,” he said.

“Or leave early,” a customer said playfully while walking out on a recent afternoon.

These coffee shops contribute to the artistic community in obvious ways.

But their interest in exposing their patrons to the arts can be seen on a smaller scale, too. At all three cafes, baristas swirl elegant shapes into their lattes — a small reminder of the universality of art.

Contact the Arts Editor

at artsdesk@unc.edu.