icon next to each of them.
This past Monday, several dozen foodies gathered in an industrial pocket of Northeast with a couple of the most well-known local chefs. They sat behind the only windows still lit up well past factory closing time, having a lively dialogue about Portland's thriving and innovative food culture.
But they weren't at some buzzed about new restaurant in the next up-and-coming neighborhood. They hadn't scored a coveted invite to some exclusive dinner party for PDX movers and shakers. They were at Urban Grind East for the fifth edition of the New Oregon Interview Series, a monthly discussion that "explores Portland's evolving creative culture."
The day before, the unassuming (though strikingly huge) coffee shop, tucked away between NE Sandy Blvd. and I-84, was filled with song and dance at a matinee showing of Broad Arts Theater's Fat & Sassy II musical comedy. The couches, tables, chairs, and even gallery walls (on casters) had been moved to make way for the live band and eight performers.
This evening, the Working Artists Network will host a roundtable discussion about the place of idea-sharing (à la TED) in the arts before the closing party for their current gallery show gracing the walls. It's fitting, considering WAN was born at Urban Grind East five years ago.
So what is it about this place? There are hundreds of coffee shops in Portland, acting as virtual offices for all the laptop-wielding freelancers, many of whom are generating innovative ideas and new businesses. But Urban Grind East has become an incubator for an impressive number of local creative and entrepreneurial projects, a sort of modern PDX salon for sharing resources, creating partnerships, turning ideas into action, and discovering new talent. How did that happen? And what does it mean?
"I love dialogue," owner Kevin Crawford explained simply. "We want a space that allows all voices to be heard. Being around people who are chasing what they're passionate about is contagious, it pushes you to make sure you're doing the same thing. And we want to be a platform for the passionate pursuits of our community to find an audience."
It's a vision that began six-and-a-half years ago when his friends first opened Urban Grind in a former bakery next to the Sunshine Dairy. Kevin was invested from the beginning, contributing elbow grease to build out the space, and his payoff came in the opportunity to open a second Urban Grind in the Pearl in 2004. The plan was always to merge the two and operate them as the same business, but the timing wasn't right until April 2008, when Kevin took over ownership of the original eastside location.
He had seen the Portland tech community find a home at Urban Grind Pearl thanks to Personal Telco's wireless support early on and its proximity to many start-up businesses. Nau even mentioned it as their first office in a Fast Company article.
Something similar had happened in Northeast, but thanks to the abundance of space (and two playrooms!), it also became a gathering place for cyclists, parenting groups, non-profits, even a church's Sunday service. The latter may have kept some people away, so one of Kevin's goals was to encourage an increasingly broader diversity of community relationships.
Urban Grind East
"We really want to foster connections that supercede geographic, religious, and socioeconomic boundaries. When everybody brings something different to the table, they leave with something more," he explained.
The space itself is as varied as the customers. The giant, light-filled main room is filled with tables and chairs both large and small, comfy couches and coffee tables, even community computers and a stage. A large conference room (with suspended concrete table!) can be rented for meetings, and a second room doubles as a meeting space or ping pong den depending on your mood. There's a small treehouse playroom (accessed through an irresistibly tiny Alice-in-Wonderland door) and a bigger kiddie area filled with tons of toys and books-both of which are separated enough from work areas to prevent grown-up distractions.
It's impressive that Urban Grind East has managed to cater to both play and productivity. Virtual workers and students can spend the whole day there and, as Kevin has observed, yield hours worth of work-from-home in much less time. He's even got a collection of books that were written there.
"It's about having that dedicated space to dive into your work," he said, "but then being able to take a break that revitalizes you, whether it's with a stimulating conversation with the person next to you or with a capucchino."
Oh yes—the coffee! Which is roasted in-house and has a dedicated following. Kevin is in the process of building out a separate cupping room to hold both coffee and tea tastings in partnership with Sip to Live, which is already using the space for their custom tea blending. He also hopes to expand the kitchen to produce more of their own food, but in the meantime, makes an effort to source the primarily vegan/vegetarian pastas, tarts, soups, salads, paninis and pastries not only locally but from the neighborhood—milk from next door Sunshine Dairy, tarts from Little Pots & Pans and pastries from Black Sheep Bakery just blocks away.
"It's another way we can help connect artisans with an audience. Art isn't just stuff you put on the walls," he noted.
Indeed, Kevin's passion for forging connections and fostering relationships to champion creativity is at the heart of Urban Grind East. He stays very involved in the community, and when he hears a story that resonates with him, he looks for ways to celebrate it and share it with others.
That's how the Working Artists Network found a home at Urban Grind East. Founder Adrienne Fritze discovered the coffee shop six years ago when she had her third professional art show in the space, but it wasn't until last year's Portland Open Studios, when Kevin serendipitously visited her studio, that the two finally met. Realizing their connection-Fritz met her WAN business partner at the shop and used it for many conceptual meetings-they began talking about how they could work together in a more formal way.
"We're like-minded entrepreneurs, both interested in social outreach and very much committed to the arts and community growth. And we're both huge risk takers," Fritz said. "The space is beautiful, but Kevin's the draw. He's so flexible, he loves what we do and has always been so supportive."
Kevin Crawford shares a bit of himself with every cup of coffee
In addition to advocating for arts funding, WAN trains artists in business principles and connects them with opportunities and resources to make a living doing what they love, holding evening roundtables every fourth Sunday, quarterly day-long workshops, and special fundraising events at Urban Grind East.
Springboard Social Innovation hosts similar monthly gatherings for those hoping to create social change. The second Wednesday Forums were created a year ago as a place for graduates of their 12-week Local Agenda curriculum to continue sharing ideas and finding support for their initiatives, but they are open to everyone with a desire to turn ideas into real solutions. Ideas like first keynote speaker Shane Endicott's Our United Villages and The ReBuilding Center, or like graduate Paul Osterlund's Abundance Farming Project.
"It's not just about networking," said Springboard Director of Marketing and Development Anna Rankansy. "Instead it's about building communities that work together." Like the two non-profits that went from competing to collaborating on a project after meeting at the Forum.
Themed panels or keynote speakers address topical issues and practical considerations like non-profit funding before groups break out into smaller workshop sessions. The flexible space of Urban Grind East allows for the various conversations that happen at the Forum—the stage for speakers, tables and separate rooms for group work, even a buffet dinner and drinks for mingling (yep, there's beer and wine).
Broad Arts Theater has taken full advantage of Urban Grind's flexibility and amenities to stage their original musical (thru Nov. 22). Writer/director/star Melinda Pittman and her team brought in upgraded theatrical lights and expanded the stage to accommodate the full-length comedy-"about women of substance and who's getting rich off America getting fat."
"We've helped Kevin think about the theatrical possibilities of the events, and we've pushed the possibilities of the space," Pittman said.
It's not a predictable transformation, but after Kevin and Pittman met when she was on a Springboard Innovation forum panel, they found they had too many "resonate vibes" to ignore—including the same birthday. And not one to pay attention to boundaries, Kevin was excited to find a way for them to work together.
In fact, this is how most of Urban Grind East's events come to be. It's not about rules (like that coffee shops only host open mic nights) but relationships. "The business is really built on community-based activities, and one event leads to the next to the next," he said.
When the Loggernaut Reading Series could no longer afford the new Mississippi Studios, the organizers were sent to Urban Grind East by Frayn Masters, who had used the coffee shop for Back Fence PDX events before they outgrew the space. "It seems it's becoming more visible as a venue for people hosting creative and literary events and performances," said co-director Erin Ergenbright, who notes the great stage, improved sound system, comfortable seating, and refreshments as its selling points. "And wine. Wine's key," she added.
Nora Roberts had been to both Backfence and Loggernaut at Urban Grind East and "liked the vibe, how I felt up close to the action yet it felt like a proper show." So when she conceived the New Oregon Interview Series, she knew just the venue-and it didn't hurt that Kevin was open to working out a sponsorship and generously donated a majority of the usual rental fees to the new non-profit.
Bringing together three influential Portlanders to discuss various aspects of the city's creative culture is not only valuable to sustain that energy, but it cements Urban Grind East's place as a culture-making hot spot. "It's possible to create intimacy and immediacy—you're sitting a few feet away from the show-with high production values," Roberts said, explaining why it works for the series.
Monday found locavore godfather chef Greg Higgins, Beast chef/owner Naomi Pomeroy (named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs 2009), and Stumptown director Matt Lounsbury discussing the future of food production and the return to farm-to-table eating. It's a subject that is and will continue to put Portland on the global stage, and Urban Grind East provided the local stage for these tastemakers (couldn't resist!) to share ideas that will push the movement forward. And that aforementioned intimacy means the audience is just as much a part of the discussion.
Certainly makes sense, since, if you haven't noticed yet, Kevin and Urban Grind East "value a genuine, honest community that has a lively exchange." Michkael Baker found that setting to be perfect for creating Showcase PDX, a future webcast show highlighting local talent. "There's people there with creativity that's out of sight," he said. "I've actually met a lot of people who will be on my show."
Other spontaneous and caffeine-fueled conversations have also led to new relationships and future events with both the Transpartisan Alliance and the Human Rights Campaign. And in the coming months, Kevin plans to curate a trifecta of literary, performance and musical events every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. (Have an idea? Interested in performing? Email Kevin at urbangrindcoffeehouse@gmail.com.)
With so much energy, so many ideas, and so much support concentrated at Urban Grind East, it shouldn't be a surprise that more and more local talent is attracted to the space. Creativity begets more of the same. But it shouldn't be taken for granted, either. It's a reciprocal connection to the community that fosters such a vibrant place.
"We have an environment where the complete tapestry is enriched by people who tell a part of their story while they're in our space," Kevin said. And he means me and you, too. So seek out this hidden gem, park your laptop, check out an event, open your ears and share a bit of yourself with your next cup of coffee. Keep the 21st-century salon alive.
UPCOMING EVENTS
WAN October Round Table: Thought Leadership and the Arts
Friday, October 30, 2009 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m. mixer, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. discussion
$25 non-member, $5-$15 members
workingartistsnetwork.com
WAN Gallery Collection & "Journey to Freedom" Closing Party
Friday, October 30, 2009 9:15 p.m.
Broad Arts Theater's Fat & Sassy II: One Size Fits!
Thru November 22, 2009
Saturdays 8 p.m. & Sundays 2 p.m.
$10 advance, $12 door + $10 buffet dinner (two day advance reservation required)
www.broadarts.org
WAN Focus Workshop: Creating Your Voice
Sunday, November 1, 2009
$55 non-members, $30-$45 members
WAN Focus Workshop: Marketing/Sales Strategy and Planning
Saturday, November 7, 2009 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
$385 (including follow-up consults), pre-registration required by October 31
New Oregon Interview Series: Visual Art
November 11, 2009 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
$5
www.2gq.org/neworegon.html
WAN November Round Table: Conversation with CAN Exec. Director Jessica Jarritt
Sunday, November 22, 2009 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
$25 non-member, $5-$15 members
Favorite Show - Multimedia Comedy
November 2009 (date TBD)
$5
favoriteshow.wordpress.com
- December hiatus -
Host your own holiday party at Urban Grind!
Loggernaut Reading Series
January 2010 (date TBD)
www.loggernaut.org
Springboard Social Innovation Forum
January 2010 (date TBD)
www.springboardinnovation.org
New Oregon Interview Series: Fashion
January 27, 2009 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
New Oregon Interview Series: Urban Development
February 22, 2009 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
