[Eat & Drink ArtPrize 2010] Bitter End Coffeehouse

With perks like 24-hour service and a 15% discount with a student ID, Bitter End Coffeehouse (752 W. Fulton) is a perfect and cozy scene to pull all-nighters when writing a paper or playing chess.  The art-clad café, located a few blocks from downtown, is frequented by students and a diverse mix of creative, energetic coffee lovers.

The café meets the socially conscious consumer's standards, offering fair-trade, organic and shade-grown options from Michigan-based coffee distributers, Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters and Paramount.  The fair-trade espresso menu rocks unique concoctions like Original Sin—an autumn treat featuring white chocolate, apple and cinnamon—and Créme Brulee, a not-too-sweet, caramel and butterscotch dessert drink.  If you are lucky enough to stop by in the evening when friendly barista Chester Lowe is working, ask him about his smoothie creation: The Panama. 

Bitter End ArtPrize t-shirts are going for $16.50, and contests and raffles will be announced throughout the two-week event.

The ArtPrize you'll see

Owner/operator John Sprite, married to Grand Rapids celebrity and musician, Karisa Wilson, selected five Michigan-based artists in support of local talent and one New Mexico-based artist. He surmised that Colleen Sanders’ mixed medium series, "Underneath It All," will be a crowd pleaser.  Her piece comprises twelve frames, each containing a pair of underwear lined up in chronological order, beginning with diapers and ending with diapers.

“It’s a good couple of weeks," Sprite said.  "I am interested in the flow of art and the buzz.  Overnight, people are talking about it.  It’s energy.  It’s spirit.”

In addition to Sanders' work, viewers can check out a variety of thought provoking pieces at Bitter End. "The Collective Unconscious," by John Ruskowski, is an acrylic on canvas that addresses Jung's subconscious symbolism. Kaiti Marek's watercolor, "Inanimate Identities," presents different objects attached to memories.  Lydia Larson's oil on canvas is part of a series that considers the delivery of a message. "Lysis," a pen and marker piece, is Candice Norcross' expression of family abuse and neglect. Finally, David Ezziddine encourages viewers to shed preconceived notions of beauty and reason in his acrylic on canvas painting, "Enigmata."