ArtCafe Network Memories Album

Does the Internet seem to have a geography to you? I always has to me. Typing in a URL web addresses always make me feel I am dialing a sort of teleportation device for my imagination. Even in the early days of our online community, many of us felt that we were gathering in a place that was quite real to us. In my mind the ArtCafe is a mythical building with gallery rooms and studio spaces, a museum library and best of all, a comfortable cafe where I can sip coffee and share ideas and donuts with friends from around the globe. That is why we designed the ArtCafe menu under headings that generally represent places (Studio, Gallery, Cafe, Classes, Business, Shop).

The ArtCafe Network of artists and friends never had any intention of becoming a massive organization with many thousands of members, a large staff and budget paid by advertising. We have been recognized by several art magazines as well as PC World. We chose to remain the small neighborhood cafe, managed by volunteers and funded by the generosity of our friends. In celebrating our tenth anniversary I think we can look back with pride at what we have accomplished on our own terms and look forward to building in our own way an even better ArtCafe.

If we have a mission, it is to learn from each others experience. With the advent of the new Artsy1 sites, we can encourage newcomers to share art on their own web pages and build on our own sites. We will soon be developing new chat programs and adding more features to the ArtCafe Network. Thanks to the expertise and time of our volunteers and the generosity and enthusiasm of our members we go into our second decade at the ArtCafe.

Sharon Himes
Director & Founder
ArtCafe Network