Community and culture. Highly-anticipated coffee shop opens near popular Pasco market
Cafe con Arte, the much-anticipated community gathering spot and coffee shop, has opened in quarters overlooking the Pasco Farmers Market plaza.
The cafe is a blend of a for-profit coffee shop and a nonprofit art space.
Pasco artist and educator Saul Martinez and partner Alexia Estrada spent a year bringing it to fruition. It officially opened Jan. 9 after a soft launch a week earlier.
The result is an airy gathering place with comfortable sofas, art from local, regional and national artists and a full range of coffee drinks.
Windows face the farmers market across the street. The design encourages connections to the street, to the market and to neighboring businesses, including Viera’s Bakery and the Pasco Specialty Kitchen.
Motivated by students
Martinez, an art teacher at Pasco’s New Horizons High School, said he was motivated by students who don’t always value themselves or their community.
He said the idea of a place to connect was driven home during the pandemic when people were compelled to disconnect.
Martinez said he was at home, isolated a diving into podcasts when he encountered the story of a second generation American who worked to shed her ethnic identity. By high school, she couldn’t see her own self in her reflection.
The message resonated with Martinez, who wanted his students to see themselves and their value.
He and Estrada identified the space at 430 W. Columbia St. as a possible location for the kind of place that fosters connections.
Red and white building
By then, Martinez had already noticed the building, a former furniture store with a red and white paint job.
He’d seen the building a decade earlier, when he was new to the Tri-Cities and contemplating his next step.
Large display windows, big enough to showcase a sofa, a living room set or a car, caught his attention. That would make a great studio, he thought.
The idea faded when he joined New Horizons and began teaching. It returned later as he contemplated creating a place in the community for his students.
People come to downtown
But before he created Cafe con Arte, he created the Dia de los Meurtos Fun Run, held in November to raise money for scholarships for disadvantaged youth. The annual event draws hundreds of runners to downtown Pasco, proving a point: People will come downtown.
Martinez said the vision of Cafe con Arte and the space came together at the same time.
He and Estrada began building support for a coffee shop and taking steps to make it happen. A Facebook page, “Help Bring a Cafe to Downtown Pasco,” attracted more than 600 followers and plenty of messages of encouragement.
The duo visited 16 coffee roasters in Washington in search of the perfect beans to serve. They chose Indaba Coffee in Spokane as much for its coffee as for its people-first business model. They also tapped Richland’s Ethos Bakery to provide baked goods.
Martinez has a second role as curator of the art exhibited by the nonprofit. He said he seeks out artists who tell stories that need to be told, who embrace unique ways of expressing themselves.
Cafe con Arte is open 7 a.m.-1 p.m., and until 4 p.m. on Fridays. It is closed Sundays. Hours will expand as the business matures, Martinez said.
Go to cafeconarte.org.
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