Cuties Coffee Bar is a tool to create space and fund community events in Los Angeles. We have been providing space for the queer community over the past year with our popular monthly event "Queers, Coffee & Donuts," and our weekly newsletter. Now we want a space that is open 7 days a week.
Bars, nightclubs, and LGBT centers have been important venues for queer activism and we want to see more local spaces for queers and allies to interact. We want daytime businesses where we can see familiar and friendly faces from our community behind the counter serving us. We want spaces where we know our identities will be respected and understood. We want spaces where we can just be.
Feelings of isolation impact the LGBTQIA+ community deeply and that strain is increasing. For queer folks, leaving the house and going out in the world can feel like a radical and herculean task. You are giving people something to look forward to, whether it's a smiling face behind the coffee bar in the morning or workshops and classes in the evenings. With Cuties, queer folks in Los Angeles (and those arriving in our city for sanctuary) will know there's a place for them waiting with open doors and open hearts.
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We have an exciting location that’s perfect for a community oriented coffee bar. While the building is in great shape, the interior does need renovation. We’ll be updating the plumbing, building a new bar, adding seating, upgrading security, and improving accessibility.
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Cuties Coffee Bar is happening, even if we don’t reach our Indiegogo goal. We are prepared to fill any fundraising gaps with a small business loan and continue with our work as planned.
Time and budget over-runs are the norm for retail build-outs. To help counteract this, we are overseeing all of the projects in the shop until we open and doing many of the projects ourselves. For larger and more complex projects we are working with skilled tradespeople who can deliver. Our budget includes overages for materials and labor.
Rewards
In addition to creating a safer space for queer folks, you’ll receive exclusive rewards from this campaign. Proudly wear your support for Cuties with a limited edition enamel Donor Pin or show off your identity with a set of enamel Pronoun Pins.
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There’s also a limited run of hand thrown coffee mugs by ceramicist Becki Chernoff. At higher donation levels we’ll laser etch your name onto a subway tile that will grace the walls of the coffee bar.
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Other Ways You Can Help
If you believe in what we're doing, please share this campaign. Share it within the community. Share it with allies and let them know this is a way they can show up. We've made a page of easily sharable messages for Facebook and Twitter here. If you’re in the LA area, you can help by distributing fliers and business cards around the city to advertise this campaign. Email us at fund@hicuties.com for more info.
You can also support us by being present in the community. Sign up for our weekly newsletter highlighting queer events in Los Angeles or like us on Facebook.
Press!
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Update 1 - February 12th:
Go the extra tile for your love. It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Flowers wilt, milk chocolates can give you gas, puppies poop everywhere. This Valentine’s Day consider making a grand gesture that will last.
Starting at $100 we’ll laser the names you and your loved one (up to 70 characters) onto a subway tile that will grace the walls of our coffee bar for all to see. Want more space to say what you feel or commemorate all the folks in your big, loving, queer family? At $200 you’ll get double the characters (140 to be exact) to express yourself and your love!
Let’s celebrate love: queer love, trans love, romantic love, aromantic love, love of smashing the patriarchy, love of our friends, love of our partners, love of ourselves. By memorializing your love in a Cuties tile you’ll be showing folks where your heart is and you’ll be showing queer folks in LA that you love them too.
Take a peek at the images below to see an example of the laser etching process that can enshrine your love on our walls.
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Update 2 - February 15th
Hey Cuties! We took occupancy of our space last week!
We are now ready for a little bit of infrastructure improvement and eager to clean up the floors and the walls. You can see our progress in the picture below.
Right now we are at 18% of our funding goal. Do you know anyone else that can help us reach 100%? Please share the campaign with them.
We've put together a few different ideas for you to share it easily at http://hicuties.com/share
Thank you for your generosity thus far.
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Update 3 - February 22:
Beautiful ceramics and hot coffee belong together. If you contribute $150 you can take home a one-of-a-kind reward to commemorate your support.
LA-based ceramic artist Becki Chernoff is creating mugs available exclusively during our indiegogo campaign! The mugs are hand thrown and each one comes with its own unique design. We love her playful yet grounded aesthetic. When describing the mugs she's creating for us she said, "I'll be using tape resist and soldate clay which is a stoneware with matte white glaze"
We visited Becki in the studio for a peak into her process. Enjoy the video below and let photos to wet your appetite for this special reward. You can see more of Becki's work by following her on instagram @bxceramics. She also offers private wheel throwing tutoring sessions if you're an aspiring or seasoned ceramicist.
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Update 4 - March 21:
Leslie has been to QCD since the very beginning. In the video below he talks to us about building community and what a physical Cuties location would mean to him.
Update 5 - March 21:
We have approval on our plans from the Los Angeles Health Department. You can see renders of the coffee shop below.
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