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Faire Gallery Cafe

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Faire Gallery Cafe
1351 E. Olive Way
Seattle, WA 98122
206.325.2111

 
Cash, Visa, and MasterCard accepted

Hours
Monday to Thursday:
8:30 a.m.-1 a.m.

Friday:
8:30 a.m.-1 a.m.

Saturday:
9:30 a.m.-1 a.m.

Sunday:
9:30 a.m.-midnight
 

April 2008

by A.V. CROFTS

© Copyright ColorsNW Magazine

Faire Gallery Café

Art, community, coffee

A NOTE TO ALL BUDDING ARTISTS, writers, musicians and fans of a satisfying panini sandwich: Faire Gallery Café is the place for you.

But you probably already knew this.

With an enviable corner location on Olive Way and Melrose Avenue and a Bohemian ambiance, Faire makes you feels like you’ve stumbled into a party that even though you weren’t invited, you’ll soon be persuaded to stay.

For owners and artists Elisheba “Liz” Johnson and Matt Drayton, Faire is perhaps their most inspired effort to date. The name is taken from the French verb “faire,” or, “to make.” Not a surprising choice, given Johnson’s Francophile leanings and her vision of a “gallery and lounge in one.” Johnson and Drayton met in Seattle in high school, but it was not until after Johnson graduated from Cornish College of the Arts and Drayton had been pursuing the dream of an aspiring musician that they became a couple and began to entertain dreams of an accessible space for art to flourish. “It’s been a journey I couldn’t have imagined,” says Drayton.

A hothouse of creativity celebrating its second anniversary this April, Faire promotes rotating local art exhibits in its cozy split-level space, hosts live music performances and sponsors book readings. Last December, Faire even turned the spotlight on a local up-and-coming playwright by staging one of her original works for a four-night run. “Our mission is to be a functional art space where everybody has a sense of ownership” says Johnson. “We’re all trying to change the community. The art experience brings people together.”

In order to offset the costs of promoting art, Faire has on offer everything from your standard pulled coffee drinks to creative salads and sandwiches, on to an educated wine list, which proves that while Johnson and Drayton may just be some of the youngest entrepreneurs in the business (Johnson is 26 years old and Drayton is 28), they’ve done their homework. “When you’re just two people starting out selling coffee and putting art on the walls, you hope the people will like your coffee!” says Drayton. (And customers do: Faire is home to the renowned Nutella Mocha that won a 2007 Seattle People’s Pick Award).

Johnson whips up a mighty fine Spinach Pecan Salad ($4.65), and her Artichoke Mozzarella Yummy Salad ($5.75), lives up to its name. Vegetarians and carnivores alike will find much to delight about in the sandwiches selection, whether it’s the Avocado, Hummus, Tomato ($4.75) or the Turkey Pesto ($6.25). Faire also offers competitive three-part harmony combos, including sandwiches, pastries and chips, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks that run from $7.50 to $11. Monthly “Wine Flight” wine tastings at Faire allow Johnson, a self-proclaimed “baby sommelier,” to showcase wines from around the world.

And for foodies who haven’t yet sprung for cable or a 40-inch flat screen television, Wednesday nights at Faire are where you’ll find kindred spirits upstairs in the couches tuning in to “Top Chef” on Bravo. Add to the mix both morning and evening happy hours (cheap lattes for the early birds and reduced wine and beer for the late crowd) and you’ve got the ingredients for a memorable experience. “What surprised me was how important this place is to people,” says Johnson. “It feels really good to know that we are creating something special.”

“We’re lucky to live the life that we lead,” says Drayton. “We are doing what we like. What made Faire authentic is keeping it authentic.”

The artists and customers at Faire agree. Mark Hoy, a hip-hop artist who performs once a week at Faire, is grateful for the atmosphere created at Faire for local performers. “Faire is ground zero for many people,” he says. “It’s a friendly place. It’s welcoming. Matt and Liz are really good people.”

Jonathan Clarren, an artist whose show “Holding Air” was exhibited at Faire in February, credits Johnson and Drayton with creating a space for more experimental art. “The gallery part of doing art is very static. You go to some galleries as a starting artist and if you’re experimental, they don’t want that. Matt and Liz are open to having anything.”

Faire will mark its second birthday with a celebration April 19, which includes live music and a silent auction of original art. Each piece will be donated by artists, including Clarren, who have held shows at Faire the previous year. Instead of charging a commission, Johnson and Drayton ask each artist to donate one piece of work for the annual auction. They are not just building a client base, they are building a community.

Faire regular and publicist Joann Natalia Aquino recognizes the power of the diverse community that finds its way to the gallery. “You encounter people that you wouldn’t normally hang out with. This place serves as a connection to the bigger picture. Faire is like a second dining room and living room for people. You come here a stranger and you leave with friends.”

I’ll drink a Nutella Mocha to that.
 

Faire Gallery Cafe's 2nd Anniversary Celebration & Art Auction

Saturday, April 19, 7pm

Live jazz and two silent art auctions featuring works by local artists: Aaron Bagley, Kimisha Turner, Elatia Olney and others.

Tickets: $8 pre-event, $10 day
of the event; includes a glass of wine and a raffle ticket.
RSVP:  206.652.0781.

Pre-auction event
Dinner with professor and author Dr. Charles Johnson

5 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Catered dinner, wine-pairing and auction pre-bidding privileges – $125. Only 10 spaces available. 

RSVP:  206.652.0781.

About Dr. Charles Johnson:

l998 MacArthur fellow and 2002 recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature; recipient of the 1990 National Book Award for “Middle Passage” (he was the first African-American man to win this prize since Ralph Ellison in 1953).

He is the father of Faire co-owner Elisheba Johnson.