Sometimes great things happen on their own. When this happens, you could say that the time was right since success is all about the timing.
About ten years ago, Henry Harper and Harold Braggs got together in Detroit to have breakfast and discuss art. Just two friends enjoying each other’s company over coffee and eggs.
Another friend joined them. Over the next decade it evolved into a weekly, standing-room-only event: the Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club.
Simplicity continues to be its secret to success, adding more participants all the while. I joined myself nine years ago. There are no dues, no governing body, and nothing is for the financial benefit of its founders, Harper and Braggs.
Before the pandemic, the group gathered once a week at the host eatery. Announcements of interest were made, artists showed their work, fielded questions, and considered on-the-spot purchase requests from other attending artists, collectors, and buyers.
Despite the name, the growing group was asked to gather during the restaurant’s more convenient dinnertime. They shared news, information, educated others, learned about the business of art, and continue to meet virtually on Zoom, which has increased its membership beyond Detroit.
Normally, artists are isolated because of the time required to devote to their practice and to continually increase their creativity. Covid-19 compounded the isolation and has had an impact on both the individual and the collective mental health of the creative community.
When I related my weekly Zoom experiences with the group to my local friend and fellow artist, Kat Knutsen, she thought the Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club “is exactly what the South Coast creative community needs.”
Covid restrictions made the need even greater. “Artists want to reclaim their social space,” says Kat. Making art in isolation is challenging.
Isolation can totally consume the artist. But remaining positive, maintaining healthy work habits, and knowing the barriers to sales sometimes needs a good airing out in conversation with other artists.
As an art student, I remember being fascinated by the French cafe culture that the artists we were studying were so much a part of. At these cafes, they discussed the aesthetics of their individual and collective craft.
The cafes were the default boardrooms where movements were launched. It was here that artists kept up with the news and formed friendships in a safe haven where they could openly express their opinion on art, life, and so much more.
Coffee houses originated in 17th and 18th century England. They later evolved into continental Europe’s classic cafes.
Artists began to display their work on the cafe walls. “Here, now, this is a ready-made culture just waiting to happen,” says Knutsen, who worked collaboratively as one of many production artists on the groundbreaking Oscar-nominated film Loving Vincent.
Oddly, in our current American grab-and-go coffee culture, whether of the pedestrian variety or New Age artisanal coffee, this concept offers an excellent opportunity for artists to gather in a cafe-like environment. Finding a venue to provide an excellent, impromptu, or permanent rotating backdrop to display artwork while offering an opportunity to sit, eat, drink, and discuss art and local art news is a key component.
“Henry [Harper] always called it ‘Breakfast Club,’” says Braggs, even when the gatherings shifted to the dinner portion of the host restaurant’s day attracting nearly a hundred artists, collectors, and anyone interested in or supportive of the arts per meeting.
Harper said getting artists and collectors in the same room is a win-win situation especially since “a lot of artists are talented, but they don’t know anything about the business of art.”
Knutsen agrees. “We need this concept for the South Coast creative community. A weekly place to gather, commiserate, catch up on the news about calls for submissions, upcoming exhibit openings, and getting to know the other artists practicing in the community... and that’s just for starters.”
Attendees would buy food and drink off-menu, bring in work they have to show, be prepared to sell their work on the spot, and share their accomplishments. Any local restauranteur interested in discussing this opportunity further is encouraged to contact Kat Knutsen at thesirennb@gmail.com.
