Of the work in progress, he said, “This is a 10×12 foot altar piece that I have begun painting in the back of my coffee house in Fresno, California. He was working on a piece commissioned by a local church. There is an art class and a regular “Paint Nite.” Throughout the month, various classes, clubs, and collaborative gatherings find a home there on Olive Street. Mark does his painting at Mia Cuppa on Sundays for the very purpose of being interrupted and making new friends. Relationships are at the heart of community. It is about the welcome and the relationships. But it is not about the food or the coffee. They, indeed, share local values and products and collaborate with local roasters, providers, and businesses.
MIA CUPPA FRESNO FREE
Here is how they describe themselves: “In the heart of Fresno’s eclectic Tower District, serving locally roasted coffees, iced blended drinks, hot teas, and pastries from a local bakery, offering free Wi-Fi and a quiet place to study, read, think or hang out with friends.” One of the largest informal venues in the Tower, Mia Cuppa has ample work and meeting space, an inviting environment, a friendly atmosphere, great coffee, and innovative food selections. That is what has been happening and continues to happen. In creating Mia Cuppa, other artists could also collaborate and demonstrate their creations poets could recite musicians could make music neighbors could gather to share great ideas.
Mark, an artist by profession, created a place to paint and show his work. There they created a “Third Space” in the community. When Mark and Wendy took over the old location for “The Revue” in the Tower in 2013, they transformed it into Mia Cuppa Caffe. All of our communities used to have them. Home is your first space work is your second space wherever you gather to live the rest of your life is your third space. Little did he know that someday he would own his own coffee house with his wife, Wendy, nor could he know that his coffee house would be true to those early days, not really about coffee and food, but about people, art, expression and community. Mark hung out at Christian coffee houses in the Central Valley where he heard folk music, shared deep conversations, and sipped coffee. We were trying to get to the future in those days, but somehow got sidetracked and institutionalized.
Whenever I visit a place like Mia Cuppa Caffe, I go back in time and forward in time. While Mark was hanging out in Atwater, I was doing the same thing in Richmond, Virginia.
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