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Historic Northeast artwork is now on display at Cafe Al Dente and it all started with a Facebook post.
When Cafe Al Dente posted on Facebook that it wanted to showcase local artists in its restaurant, Bobbi Baker Hughes immediately thought of featuring Northeast artists.
“I thought it would be a great fit,” said Baker Hughes, president of the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
Not only would it showcase talented artists from Northeast, it would also highlight how Northeast is a great place to live, she said.
When Baker Hughes and Northeast Arts KC Executive Director Rebbecca Koop approached the owners, they jumped on board.
“I was all for it immediately,” said Cafe Al Dente Owner Leonard Dwyer. “I wanted to get some good, local talent in and let them display their wares, and frankly it’s good for me, too.”
Being a family-owned and operated restaurant, they like supporting anything local, he said.
“It’s a really good location for putting art up,” Koop said. “We’re getting a lot more people that would be interested in buying and more interested in art just because of the location.”
Currently, four Northeast artists are on display in the City Market restaurant and include David Remley, Baker Hughes, Dianne Dickerson and Shane Rowse.
Fifteen of Remley’s photographs are on display, which feature historic landmarks and other prominent sites in Northeast, like the Colonade, Cliff Drive and the Kansas City Museum.
“The cool thing is it’s all Northeast except for one of City Market, so we’re promoting Northeast sites,” Remley said. “It’s just nice to have your work shown and if it benefits the area in which you live, that’s awesome, too.”
Two of Dickerson’s line drawings are on display with one featuring a window view of her backyard.
Baker Hughes’ lone photograph shows a butterfly landing on a banana tree leaf.
“My daughter and my son-in-law gave that to me as a memorial plant when my daddy passed,” Baker Hughes said. “I have this thing about butterflies. When I see a butterfly, I think of good memories of people that I don’t see anymore. So, when that butterfly landed on Daddy’s banana tree leaf that was in the process of opening, it was like he was there. It’s significant to my heart.”
Asked what he thinks about the new art, Dwyer said, “It shows a lot of talent.”
The artwork, which was installed April 18, will be on display through May 31 and Dwyer said he’d like to continue featuring Northeast artists and those from the the City Market area.
“It’s a brand new concept for Al Dente,” Baker Hughes said, “and I think as they continue to do this, it’s going to spark new ideas and interest not only in their restaurant and the City Market area, but we should have some interest generated about the Northeast. They’ll be talking about it.”
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