Art Bar

General information

Let's pretend for a second that we are sitting around a cozy table, palms hugging our mugs, fingers tracing the rim and we're old friends catching up.

Art Bar began as dreams colliding... collaborating.

Years ago, my mom, after decades of being in the creative field but never doing it full time on her own, started her own brand of artwork, Marla Rae. Her inspirational word art quickly grew in popularity and soon she had reps selling her art for her. She's modest so she would never tell you this, but she is now in huge retailers all over the world (including Australia & China) and you could probably find her work in every major city and state. Except for Hastings.

I first moved away from home when I was 18 years old. I wasn't a coffee drinker by any means, I knew how many scoops of Coffee Mate original creamer it took to make my coffee not taste like coffee, but that is as far as my experience took me. It wasn't until I moved to Hawai'i when I was 21 that my taste for coffee began to change. I started noticing the flavor and complexity of it, in a way that always had been covered up by heavy creamers and loads of sugar. Suddenly I began ordering drinks with less syrups and extra shots. Next thing I knew, I was hooked. I'll never forget the day I started drinking black coffee.... because I liked it. I actually began comparing notes between coffee houses I frequented, "oh, I prefer their espresso, but I like the other places cold brew better"....who had I become? Fast forward 6 years. After a managing stint for awhile in a cafe and 3 years at a nation wide coffee chain, I found myself back in Hastings.

So that's where our stories collide.

My mom had always dreamt of having a space to sell her art work locally. In fact, she had her eye on this specific space for several years. I dreamt of owning my own coffee shop for about a decade at this point. So after a few shots of espresso and a few bottles of wine, the Art Bar came to life. We are passionate about this dream that is now a reality and hope that you see our passion in everything we do. We hope you feel the love as much as we do.