SPRINGVILLE (WKBW) — Take a trip down Main Street in Springville and you can't miss it. Art's Cafe, an impressive new collaborative community space, is adding to the vibrancy of the downtown area.
"Art's Cafe is about a great cup of coffee and really really great food. But it's more than that," says Allison Duwe, a worker-owner at Art's Cafe, "It's about building community through food and art".
It's that approach that makes Art's Cafe unique. Spread out on three floors, you will find not only a comfortable café, but also workshop spaces for artists, a performance stage, a roof top garden and an on-site artisan bakery and kitchen boasting a fantastic menu.
"We simplify it as bread, beverage, soup and sandwich," says Duwe. "Super simple but all scratch made, all focused on helping people experience what food should taste like."
While it's the fresh baked goods and coffee that keep customers lining up, the real vision of the space is to the support the arts. Art's Cafe hosts art workshops, concerts and theatre events. It also has two artist residences where visiting artists can stay while in Springville.
The journey has been incredible.
Over the course of 10 years Art's Cafe was rebuilt and raised out of the rubble of what was a vacant and collapsed building. The rehabilitation project happened in partnership with The Springville Center of the Arts, and with backing of the community.
"It had been empty for a number of years, much like other properties on small town main streets" says Duwe. "It had a completely collapsed roof to the basement".
But years of hard work have resulted in a stunning new venue that all of Springville can be proud of. The venue currently has a gallery exhibition of art hanging throughout the space for the community to see.
Art's Cafe is community-worker owned, meaning more than 100 community members own a share of the business, and supported the project from the ground floor. 6 worker-owners operate the space.
"We are running the business together. There is not a boss that walks in and makes sure that people are doing what they are supposed to," says Duwe. "We are all engaged in very hands on, often physical work, to make this place happen."
All it takes is one step inside Art's Cafe and you immediately feel the passion and pride of a dedicated community.
"We are helping to make Springville have a quality of life where young and old people want to be here. That excites me."
