For several people, Donkey Coffee is an aesthetically pleasing, cozy hub of socializing and studying, welcoming to all locals, students and those passing through Athens. Surrounding the customers lounging on couches and catching up with friends are many art pieces from local artists.
Donkey is "committed" to promoting social justice and the arts in Athens, and hosts musical performances and creative poetry nights. The walls and shelves covered in artwork bring warmth to the coffee shop and support the artists behind the creations.
Dave Deibi, Donkey’s art director, said the shop is a “cultural hub” for the community, and strives to promote local talent either by hosting open mic nights or inviting artists to share their work with the shop.
Deibi said Donkey has an online portal for those interested in having their art displayed in the coffee shop; however, the shop is currently at capacity with their artist space. Deibi said it might take a year to set up an artist’s exhibit, but once the art is displayed, it’s available to the hundreds of people who visit, showcasing their hard work and talent to the public.
“When we exhibit art in our shop because the amount of foot traffic is so high, the artists are getting to interchange and speak through their art (and) they're able to speak with people in the community,” Deibi said.
Some art pieces are for sale, but artists are not required to price their work, although Deibi said he does encourage it. When helping artists select a price, Deibi said he recommends artists choose a price based on the piece’s emotional value, as some works might be hard to part with.
According to Donkey employees, Wendy Minor Viny and her daughter, Nina Viny, are the current featured artists in the shop’s backroom. Prices for works by Wendy Minor Viny and Nina Viny and other artists range between $45 and $600.
Deibi said Donkey tries to work with first-time artists to help them grow in the art world. He enjoys working with new artists and veteran artists, describing their interactions as a “mentorship program.”
“When we bring an exhibit together like that, it really creates a harmony between the experience of the more established artist and the excitement of the budding artist,” Deibi said.
Noah Hogan is an artist at Passion Works Studio and provides artwork to Donkey. Hogan said he joined the Passion Works’ team 15 years ago, and enjoys painting nature scenes, especially with animals. His favorite creation depicts a “great big octopus,” which he sold to his aunt for $50.
Hogan said his paintings are impressionistic, which is an art style developed in the late 19th century characterized by visible brush strokes. Hogan is currently working on a painting of a fish.
“The one on the top is a Paddlefish, very rare in Ohio,” Hogan said. “I’ve got an alligator gar, and on the bottom I have a Muskellunge, which is my favorite kind of pike (fish).”
Chrysallis Janes is a long-time supporter of Donkey, providing artwork and rejoining the business as an employee in 2021, after moving back to Athens from Arizona. She was first hired at Donkey in 2003.
Janes said one of her art mediums is quilling, which consists of rolling, arranging and gluing strips of paper to create complex designs. Janes said this art form is not very popular, and is trying to bring attention to it.
Janes created several pieces for Donkey over the years, and her quilled terrarium in an old French press, detailed with flowers and mushrooms, lives in the shop permanently. She said pricing her pieces is a hard task, and she tries to keep it reasonable, but fair. Prices depend on the size of the piece, but Janes sold items between $30 and $200.
Janes said Chris and Angie Pyle, owners of Donkey, always support her artwork, and sharing her pieces with the shop was a great way to see if others would like it. After Janes participated in her first art show at the coffee shop, she was asked to provide more pieces for the gallery.
“I was pretty nervous about (the art show), but they made me feel so good about it,” Janes said. “And then the reception from the community was so great that it was just a really wonderful experience.”
Janes’ husband, Kevinn Fung, created the large musical mural in Donkey’s stairwell. Fung also has oil paintings hanging in the front lobby of the coffee shop.
Janes said Fung and Chris Pyle have been friends for a long time, and the musical mural took about 10 years to complete. Fung worked on the mural before moving to Portland, and he visited Athens often to work on it for a week at a time.
Artists interested in having their artwork featured can fill out this form.
“You, in the course of a two-month exhibit, might be showcasing your work to not only hundreds, but potentially thousands of people,” Deibi said.
