New art at Starbucks changes store experience

Today when I entered the Starbucks on 16th and Bethany Home, something was different.  I felt it.

Looking around, I spotted walls filled with powerful art.  Art in which the space felt different, a bit cozier, like a living room.  Thanking the manager for the intimate feeling in the store due to this beautiful art, I was shocked to learn the 7th grade class at Madison 1 School were the Picassos.  Each piece had the name of the artist beneath it as though it were being displayed at the Phoenix Art Museum.  It is moments like this I feel a sense of pride in the human experience.

I will never know what it means to the young budding artist to have their work displayed in their community. Does this one simple act translate into personal validation? Will these creatives know that what they generated from insides themselves is worthy of being framed and on display?  Will they be encouraged to create more?  Will they honor their inner world?

As a customer, the art lifted something inside of me.  I grabbed a large iced tea, sat with my book, and felt as though the walls blessed me with hope, talent, and wonder.  My favorite piece of art, shown to the right, demonstrates dimensionality, balance, aliveness and a deep connection with oneself.  I saw an understanding of the Divinity within this piece.  Listen to her poem integrated into this work:

Love isn’t about
finding another.
Love is about
creating yourself.

The Divine Mother within me can cry tears of joy. A pre-teen or newly teen beauty remembers who she is.

Now that is worth lifting a glass of ice tea and toasting,