True fact : Home of America's largest digitally enhanced letterpress mural!
Before Andy Mumma opened Barista Parlor, I doubt anyone in Nashville (or anywhere) would believe that one day The New York Times, Southern Living and Playboy would be writing about a coffee emporium housed in what used to be a very greasy George's Transmission Shop.
The belle of the the ball -- The Preussen -- is an optically/digitally enhanced letterpress mural. Each square was hand printed on our letterpress equipment. Spanning 24 feet, it is a reflection of how we SEE the world today: beginning with a real ship painted by an artist which was photographed and turned into a picture on a computer which I reengineered as a plate on a press to assemble onto a wall in my city for people to see in person which they then share on the internet for others to see. Here to there and back again. Which is of these is THE Prussian? Is it the object or the journey? Both?
Working hard around the room everyday, The Alpha Boys function both as table markers and participatory kinetic art. The Alpha Boys become the vehicle through which the patrons interact with the space and each other. Based on hand printed originals, each Alpha Boy is laser cut in birch plywood and mounted on brass hardware.
With Andy's trust and a collection of amazing collaborators, Barista Parlor is an example of what Nashville's creative community is capable of when given the latitude to play together. All day everyday you can see the positive effect the space and the place have on the patrons that flock there.
For our part we were honored to concretely marry design and installation art. From the murals and signs to the logos on the cups Barista Parlor is a place for capital-A-ART to be integrated into everyday life.
We love this space dearly!
It is how we view art and design and commerce coming together and a model of how we hope to work in with folks in the future.