The Art Cafe: New owner, but the same commitment to those eager to show their artistic side

Over on Blueberry Avenue, The Art Cafe offers the Palmer community a place to go and get in touch with their artistic side through a number of creative outlets.

Since the beginning of July, the cafe has been under the ownership of Becky Holsinger. A lifelong artist herself, Holsinger believed the opportunity to take over The Art Cafe would be a suitable fit for her.

“I've always liked to provide services to the community through artwork,” said Holsinger. “I’ve liked to empower employees to learn skills and things that can help them grow.”

Holisinger found herself in the Palmer area about two years ago coming from New Mexico. She hoped to be closer to family as her son and grandchildren lived in the area.

From her time in Palmer, Holsinger made friends in the Valley with people she has brought to The Art Cafe with her. One of which, Judy Vars from the recycling center, has spent time working closely with Holsinger and employing her passion for both recycling and artwork.

With the recycling center and other organizations in the Palmer community, Holsinger looks forward to partnering for activities in the coming future.

In New Mexico, Holsinger owned a consignment shop where she and her team dove into doing street art. Holsinger reflected fondly upon her memories of watching her employees grow through exploring art.

“These guys learned something about running a business and about promoting themselves and their artwork, and we had artists in there who had never sold art and they didn't show art before,” said Holsinger. “It was really cool to see these seeds that spread even when that business was built.”

Holsinger expressed deep gratitude for her team of fellow artists at The Art Cafe, who have worked hard to keep the swing of things going through the ownership transition.

Having been at The Art Cafe for four months, Kyla Peria is an aspiring artist herself who has found a sense of community at The Art Cafe.

“I've seen a lot of her work already and she's just got so many wonderful ideas that are so fresh and so much has already changed,” said Peria. “I mean, this woman, she's just phenomenal.”

The team at the cafe works to ensure that as customers walk in the door, that they are met with a warm welcome. Upon walking through the door, customers see bright colors and artwork on all four walls.

Holsinger looks forward to using her touch to redecorate the space but will have it remain welcoming for all who enter. She enjoys a rustic industrial look and will see how she can incorporate it into the space moving forward.

The cafe is dog-friendly as both instructors and customers bring their dogs in from time to time.

The Art Cafe is open from Wednesdays to Sundays from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. During that time, customers can come in to enjoy fudge, ice cream or a coffee. Many enroll in one of the classes offered throughout the week, depending upon what peaks their interest.

The cafe offers open studio periods, where artists can come in and work on personal projects in the space alongside other artists.

For this coming week, on July 18 there will be a Chickaloon class, on July 20 there will be an alcohol ink salmon class and aquarium fused glass class and on July 21 there will be a floral bowl glass fusing class.

An instructor at the cafe, Linda Hessmer, teaches a class making frames with polymer and mosaic pieces. On Sunday evening, Hessmer worked on a purple mirror frame that she had designed with green, purple and silver mosaic pieces.

All artists go home with the pieces they created at The Art Cafe whether it is right away, or picked up after the final product has been finished. Peria often makes the phone calls to inform artists when their pieces are done and ready for pick up.

They have both pottery and glass kilns in the back room that they utilize to harden and dry pieces made during classes.

Additionally, the cafe welcomes private events such as birthday parties for customers of all ages. Customers can call and schedule these events at the cafe. This coming fall, they will host their first bachelorette party which the team looks eagerly towards.

”If you can have families come in and the kids like a project and they feel like they've created something, it's really cool to do that, and I hope to try more things,” said Holsinger. “So I don't know where we'll be five years from now, but it will be exciting.”

All that is up and coming can be found on The Art Cafe AK website or on the social media pages.

Whether going for a sweet treat or to create an art piece to take home, all are welcome to enjoy all that is offered at The Art Cafe.