Coffee shop offers $1 drip coffee to local artists every week
Lara ordering coffee at Dear Diary Coffee’s register.
If you’re looking for a good cup of coffee and a relaxing work environment to get some assignments or personal projects done, a Saturday evening at Dear Diary Coffee is the answer.
On Saturdays from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Dear Diary Coffee holds a space for artists to come and work on their personal or professional projects. The best part of the deal is that artists who come to work at this time can get drip coffee for just $1.00!
From the moment you walk in the door, you can tell that art is an important part of the atmosphere in the establishment. When you first walk in the door, there is a wall displaying pieces done by local artists that are for sale. On the wall are hand drawn books, pamphlets, magazines, and more, made by local artists.
On the wall opposite the entrance, there are various art supplies sold, along with locally made stickers also for sale. It is clear that art plays a big role in drawing in customers and creating a place geared toward creative minds.
You can practically see the creative juices flowing from the moment you walk in the door at Dear Diary. Tables full of people line the wall and fill up the space in the room, with artists of different kinds sit, drink a coffee, and get to work.
People were working on graphic design projects, music editing, drawing using different mediums, painting, and video editing. Each person had a small paper cup filled with drip coffee and was deeply invested in the work they were creating.
This Saturday evening was a quiet one, though the establishment was full to the brim between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. I took my roommates, Xochitl Lara and Isis Debrock, with me to work on some creative projects of our own, and they loved it.
Isis worked on a few graphic design projects, Xochitl took pictures for a photography assignment, and I worked on some creative nonfiction projects for my own classes. It goes to show how many outlets there are for art these days and how nice it is to work in an environment specifically designed for creative production.
“It felt very casual,” Debrock said. “I really liked how much I was able to focus on my actual work. It was fairly quiet and the music was not distracting.”
Not only was the overall vibe of the place great for working artists, the coffee being served was delicious. The drip coffee was just strong enough to propel someone into whatever project they were working on, without giving off that jittery feeling.
However, if you’re the kind of person who needs a snack with your coffee to keep from over caffeination, Dear Diary also has some great options for a bite to eat! There is a wide range from sweet to salty; parfaits, baked sweets, bagels, salads, and to-go boxes of assorted snacks.
Dear Diary Coffee is located across the river from St. Edward’s and East of I-35. A nice fifteen minutes drive over to where coffee and creative fellowship awaits! It is a great chill weekend type of place to be and the emphasis on art and working artists is both inspiring and encouraging!
Lola Claire is a junior writing and rhetoric major with a concentration in creative writing and a double-minor in Journalism and Digital Storytelling....
