Although I’m not a coffee drinker, I l – o – v – e coffee shops! The misty aroma of coffee hanging in the air (so much better than the actual taste), newspapers flung about, a chance to eavesdrop on some really fascinating conversations (oh come on, you do it too). Ah, but what I love most about coffee shops is the art. Stroll into any coffee shop worth its artificial sweetener and you’ll find an eclectic, continually rotating collection of locally-produced pieces — pieces that, to my untrained but appreciative eye, are every bit as good as the stuff hanging in fancy museums. More affordable too, if they happen to be for sale.
The point of all this? The UW-Madison Writing Center has taken one step closer to coffee shop-dom! No gang, we haven’t bought the automatic roaster that so many generations of TAs have wanted (sorry). But thanks to two wonderfully talented UW-Madison undergrads, Molly Rentscher (who moonlights as a Writing Fellow *and* a Writing Center receptionist) and Meghan Johnson, WE’VE GOT ART!! Over the weekend Molly and Meghan installed two dozen or so of their original pieces on our walls, which mean that the reception area, computer lab, all teaching stations, and room 6172 now vibrate with color. We’ll post pictures on the Writing Center’s Facebook page for those of you not in Madison; those of you in town need to get over here to see for yourself! The space is truly transformed.
In the future, we’re thinking that we’ll continue to use the Writing Center’s walls to display student artwork — something that other writing centers around the country have done. It’ll be a rotating collection of sorts, very much like a coffee shop! Art, conversation, the busy clicks of keyboard strokes: all we’re missing is the coffee, really.
Hmmm . . .
This is exciting! Not that I don’t love the posters we’ve had (who doesn’t love the guy on the ominous park bench?), but the idea of new creative pieces and new energy in the writing center space is appealing. I can’t wait to check out the artwork. Thanks so much for your generosity with your time and work, Molly and Meghan!
We put some student art up in our WC as well–I love it!
A big thanks to everyone for making this possible in our writing center. And a huge thanks to two very creative and talented artists, Molly and Meghan. Your work is so impressive and compelling, and you are so generous to share your work with all of us who work in the UW-Madison Writing Center and with all the students who pass through our spaces each week. I am really impressed. Wow–thank you!
–brad
I enjoyed my first full cup of coffee at the age of 27 during a trip to Italy. Prior to then, I’d only had one sip — blech! — whenst an early teen. It was actually a cappuccino that got me hooked, and many more thereafter. These days, two decades later, I think my pupils begin to dilate after three large cap’s, so I usually limit to two or less. Here in Madison, methinks the consistently best made cappuccinos are created at Espresso Royale on State Street. If the density of the upper half of your cap’ is like Mr. Bubble, Melissa, you didn’t get it at Espresso Royale.