Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Beans-N-Screens Etsy store is live!

All prints in the 2009 portfolio are now available for purchase through our Etsy store.

beansandscreens.etsy.com


We say the art is affordable and we aren't kidding. Price range is $20-55 for the unframed prints sizes 9x12 inches and up to 18x 24 inches.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Welcome! The 2009 Portfolio debuts June 26!


Welcome to Beans-n-Screens! We're an art benefit project organized by the Philly-based Independents Coffee Cooperative and curated by arts entrepeneur Sam Verrill. Since 2008, we've brought together unique and affordable coffee-themed screenprints by leading artists and designers from around North America for a great cause. Sales of the prints benefit the hard-working coffee farmers of Cooperativa San Fernando, located high in the Peruvian Andes mountains.

Coffee has always been right there fueling the work of artists. And independent coffeehouses provide artists a simpatico place to meet and hang out. With Beans-n-Screens, independent coffee purveyors and coffee-loving artists pay homage, both to the drink itself, and to the labors of those who produce it.

Our 2008 Portfolio raised over $2000 towards a solar bean drying facility, allowing the farmers of San Fernando to better produce their incredible organic, fair-trade coffee.

The 2009 Portfolio is about to debut in Philadelphia on June 26, and soon you'll be able to purchase all available prints in the collection on-line at our new Etsy shop. In the meantime, scroll down and peruse the portfolio right here! Follow the links to find out more about the individual artists.

The portfolio will be on view at Philly's finest independent fair-trade coffeeshops through the spring of 2010. Check the schedule in the right hand column and please join us in celebrating great art for a great cause!

strawberryluna


strawberryluna
Coffee, Thee, & Me
16 x 20 inches

strawberryluna is a Philadelphia native, now living in Pittsburgh, PA who is often only able to be coaxed out of bed in the mornings because of coffee. With cream and a little sugar, please. Thank you.

DWITT


DWITT
Blastoff!
9 x 12 inches
DWITT is an artist living/working/gardening/caffienating around the clock in Minneapolis, MN.

Steve Tenebrini


Steve Tenebrini
Sweet Bean
9 x 12 inches

Lonny Hurley


Lonny Hurley
One More Cup Before I Go
18 x 24 inches

I want coffee breath when I die.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Dan Judge


Dan Judge
Title
9 x 12 inches

I love all types of coffee…but when I’m burning that midnight oil, some iced coffee - heavy on the cream and sugar - just won’t cut it. I like my late night brew dark and sacred.

Chuck Keppler


Chuck Keppler
Ten Days Later
9 x 12 inches
Just a little section of an ad from the 1920's that sums up the curative properties of a good cup of coffee.

J. Gregory Pizzoli


J. Gregory Pizzoli
Sludge City
9 x 12 inches
J. Gregory Pizzoli lives and works in Philadelphia. A graduate of the MFA Book Arts/Printmaking program from the University of the Arts, his work is informed by his interests in silkscreen, letterpress, comics, street art, children's picture books and role of the artist as mischief-maker.

Mark Forsman


Mark Forsman
Fuel!
18 x 24 inches

Mark is a student at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. In his free time he prints posters and drinks too much coffee.

Dan Knapp


Dan Knapp
Title
9 x 12 inches

Jeffrey Everett / El Jefe Design


Jeffrey Everett
A Damn Good Cup of Joe...AND HOT!
18 x 24 inches

When we think coffee, we think of the iconic TV show Twin Peaks. We used a
quote from Special Agent Dale Cooper who famoulsy said "A damn good cup of
joe... AND HOT!" And it is hard not to think of Shelly the waitress who
served coffee and cherry pie at the Double R Diner when not restoring
hearing and shooting baddies.

John Vogl / The Bungaloo


John Vogl
Breakfast in Peru
18 x 24 inches

The Bungaloo is the studio moniker of John Vogl. He busies himself by designing and printing concert posters. When hes not doing that, hes applying his illustration and design work to t shirts, websites, scarves, art prints, sketchbooks, album artwork and things of that ilk.

100 Degrees


100 Degrees
Title
9 x 12 inches

Geordan Moore


Geordan Moore
Coffee & Donuts
9 x 12 inches

Justin Santora


Justin Santora
Nobody Takes Traveler's Checks
12 x 18 inches

In May of 2009, I temporarily relocated to Montreal from the Chicagoland area. Following an intense week of drawing, printing, and recovering from an appendectomy; I packed up and drove from Illinois to downtown Montreal in about 14 hours. Eight or nine hours into my journey, I stopped to get gas and have a small coffee and a couple of bagels, thinking the combination of caffeine and carbohydrates would keep me from getting tired on the road. I remember pulling back onto the freeway listening to Toronto talk radio and putting my beverage holder to good use. I ended up making it to Montreal successfully, and while this was a totally ordinary occurance, it was my most memorable cup of coffee.

As I started adjusting to life in a new city, I ended up doing a drawing of a woman in a diner with a cup of coffee and a bagel--not unlike me a few days earlier in the middle of Ontario at two in the morning.

Also, it's true; no one takes traveler's checks.

Michael Munter


Michael Munter
La Sangre da Vida
11 x 19 inches

Christopher Landis


Christopher Lands
Thou Shalt Not Partake of Decaf
9x12 inches
Im a 28 year old commercial artist and art director from the new jersey shore. I play guitar in a rock band and enjoy a good game of pinball. My print involves two of my favorite things in the world, Coffee and the Descendents.

James Weinberg


James Weinberg
More
9x12 inches
This print is based on different drawings of coffee found in my sketchbooks. There has always been something about the looseness of my sketchbook drawings that I often like more than when I spend hours laboring over more developed illustrations.

B.T. Livermore



B.T. Livermore

Mmm Coffee!/More Coffee!
9x12 inches
BT Livermore lives and works in the land of coffeeshops, Portland, Oregon.

Monday, June 1, 2009

About the farmers we support


For generations, coffee was a source of pride for the farmers of San Fernando, Peru; but their rich beans only provided them with minimal income. This was because their farms were located on the side of the Andes Mountains, 6,000 feet above sea level, more than ten hours away from any major city. The producers had to transport their beans by donkey to the nearest regional centers of trade for their meager earnings.

In 1994, the farmers of San Fernando made the crucial decision to form a worker-owned cooperative. They received technical and logistical assistance of a larger umbrella cooperative called COCLA. And in 2004, when the Peruvian government finally finished building a road to their remote community, the farmers' chances for the economic viability of their efforts was greatly improved.


The farmers of Cooperativa San Fernando grow distinct heirloom varieties of Arabica coffee. The high altitude, climate, soil quality, and the attentive care given to the production gives this Peruvian coffee its unique flavor, not to mention a compelling story.

Independents Coffee Cooperative, a group of fair-trade coffee houses in Philadelphia, got connected with the farmers of San Fernando through the fair-trade roaster Equal Exchange. In 2006, Independents debuted the exclusive organic and fair-trade Independents Peruvian Select coffee to the Philadelphia market to a terrific reception. In 2007, two representatives from Cooperativa San Fernando visited Philadelphia and the Independents member shops. This was an incredibly unique opportunity for both sides...the coffee producer and the coffee purveyor and customer rarely if ever have the chance to meet and converse face to face.

From the conversations Independents had with the farmers of San Fernando, a need became apparent. Because of their damp climate, the Peruvian farmers were losing a portion of their crops when it came to the drying process. A solar powered drying facility would help them improve their production and profits. Independents pledged to raise $12,000 to support the project.

In 2008, members of the Independents Coffee Cooperative visited the remote San Fernando community. Staying in the homes of the farmers gave them a direct insight into the quality of life their and the impact of working as part of a fair-trade cooperative. They also got to see the new drying facility in operation, and pledged to continue supporting the community.

100% of the proceeds from the sales of art from Beans-N-Screens will support the dynamic community of San Fernando as they work to provide us with the special coffee they grow.