Welcome to Sip and See, a brand spankin’ new series that features a different local coffee shop every month. The thing about coffee shops is that so many of them feature local art by killer artists — and we want to let you know who’s showing where. Our first coffee shop is The Orange Spot, Park Circle’s cozy creative space, where lattes (and now wine and beer!) flow and local art decorates the walls.

“When we opened in 2013, we knew we wanted to have local artists on the walls,” says Laura Cannon, one of Orange Spot’s founders. “We want to foster creatives and create a creative community. Oftentimes, coffee shops are where creative types gather.”

The Orange Spot now hosts a different artist each month, with art on the walls and artists’ business cards by the register. Artists can self-promote as much as they want, directing customers to the shop, and Cannon says that the Orange Spot takes a “small commission” from works sold.

Past artists include illustrator Tami Boyce, wire taxidermist Alison Ross, photographer BadJon, graphic artist Krista Engler, and a number of local students. Each May Orange Spot presents works created by students of the Palmetto Scholars Academy, a gifted and talented charter school located in North Chuck. This month’s featured artist is SOA teacher Anne Cimballa (who is currently leading the charge in creating paper cranes for Parkland, Fla. students).
[content-10] In an artist’s statement, Cimballa says, “These piece(s) are representative of the paper plant that each and every North Charleston resident is familiar with, either by sight or spell. I wanted to present what most people interpret as an eyesore as something aesthetically compelling. I want to zoom in on areas that are visually pleasing or, on my best days, provocative in thought and emotion.”

Next month the coffee shop will present work by Melissa Dorey a.k.a PaperBombCreations and April features Cyndi-Lynne Reynolds.

“We recently had an artist who was nervous to ask [us] to show her work,” says Cannon. “It feels good to be able to say yes and give people opportunities.”

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