We recently sat down with Kenny Vannucci, co-owner of The Drive Coffee Bar (formerly Café Napoli) on Commercial Drive near 1st Avenue. This coffee shop has been transformed from its former space with white walls, a unique coffee bar and some beautiful brick work. One feature wall in the back showcases all of Kenny’s photos taken around East Van. The rest of the space has been set aside to showcase East Van artists. The Drive Coffee Bar doesn’t take commissions, but encourages the artists to host a gallery night during the month. The current artist featured caught our eye, Kathryn McPhee. She has a great eye for colour and applies elements of graffiti and animation. She uses oil pastels, acrylics and spray paint. Kathryn has been drawing and painting since she was a child and currently works out of The Arts Factory which is a mixed-use arts facility in a transformed warehouse at 281 Industrial Avenue. Last year, Kathryn participated in the Eastside Culture Crawl for the first time and her work was showcased at the Firehall Culture Crawl Exhibition which featured the works of new artists. She currently keeps busy with commissioned works, but she will be hosting a Gallery Night at The Drive Coffee Bar on Wednesday, August 24th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Kathryn will be on hand to chat and has some local musicians lined up for the evening including Sadie Campbell and Cam Labelle doing an acoustic set. Stop by and check out this talented artist and this great new space on the Drive.
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