What Exactly is Creative Grounds DC?

Creative Grounds DC is a community space for teaching, producing and showcasing art while serving ethically sourced coffee and good eats. A true community gathering space, Creative Grounds DC goes beyond the traditional coffee bar model to include a unique and fulfilling arts education program for kids, studio rental and exhibition space. Located in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, DC, the space is a 2,000 sq ft facility that will serve as the go-to destination for art-related activities in the nation’s capital.

We invite YOU to join us on our journey to create spaces where we embrace and celebrate creativity and community.

Proud parents and founders of Creative Grounds DC, Kenn & Asmara, with their children, Khalab & Samra 

Why a community arts space?

Bloomingdale has been a great place to raise our kids. It is vibrant, eclectic and friendly.  As residents, parents to two active children, and art lovers, we are happy to see the increasing number of families and artists making Bloomingdale home. The only missing piece: more indoor organized activities for children. ANC representative and Bloomingdale Civic Association Second Vice President, Bertha Holliday agrees with us. She states,

“Creative Grounds DC will address two of Bloomingdale’s major needs: more enriching organized activities for Bloomingdale's increasing child population and a formal permanent space for galvanizing and promoting Bloomingdale's unique arts and cultural communities.”  

It was with this mind that we thoughtfully considered how best to give back to the community we love. Creative Grounds DC was born.

Our new home! 1822 North Capital Street, NW, Washington, DC

Contributing to the DC Arts Scene

As you can see on this map, we’re centered in one of the historically creative communities in DC, with the famed Howard Theatre, U Street Music Hall, Phillips Collection, Adams Morgan, and Civil War Museum all less than two miles from us. Creative Grounds DC will be a great addition and we are ready to contribute to this storied history. But we are going to need your help!

We believe that art is healing, transformative, and for children, the developmental benefits of arts practice serve as the basis for all learning and emotional growth. We’ve already started developing a pretty cool arts curriculum highlighting famous art movements throughout history. Children will get the opportunity to explore Pop Art, Impressionism and the work of the Color School of Washington, to name a few, in fun and developmentally appropriate ways. With program names like the Happy Scribblers and Tiny Artists in Residence, it’s sure to be fun for all. We are passionate about art programs for children because we have witnessed the successful use of art practice in children with self-regulation challenges, emotional trauma and developmental delays.  Children are encouraged to express their frustrations and feelings through a paint brush, drawing, meditation, and/or yoga.

Khalab, a young, budding artist

Samra's self-expression through art

Providing an Affordable Space for Local Artists

Keep in mind the rapidly changing city of Washington, DC and it’s effect on affordable spaces. The development boom has meant an increase in the cost of living, less affordable spaces and limited options. For artists, it makes living and working in DC challenging. Creative Grounds DC is dedicated to providing a platform for artists and art enthusiasts to practice and showcase their craft without the burden of high-priced fees. We also understand that art and art practice can be expensive so we have promised to never turn an artist or child away because of limited resources. Simply put, Creative Grounds DC is our way of supporting our neighborhood and city with thoughtful reflection on the role of creativity, learning, and expression in community building.

At Mural Jam, a community art project sponsored by Albus Cavus, local artists spent a day painting a massive mural on a concrete retaining wall behind the Rhode Island Avenue Shopping Center in Washington, DC. Photo by Kevin Harber

Supporting Local Small Business

This project has also given us the opportunity to support local business. We’re working with locally owned and operated specialty coffee roaster, Nagadi Coffee Roaster, a company whose mission is producing a great quality product, that empowers growers, and improves their lives. We’re equally proud to work with women of the Crossroads Community Food Network, a micro-enterprise training program for food business entrepreneurs. We’ve been very intentional about who we work with because every individual that is part of this initiative is also a part of this canvas we’re painting called Creative Grounds DC. It’s important for us to weave our social activism, belief in collaboration, and service into this business. To say that this project has given us so much joy is an understatement. We have taken all that we love, including our interests, hobbies and most importantly, the values that we hold dear and created a business that will make us all proud.

Serving you the best in specialty coffee to start your day

Why Indiegogo?

Exposure to art enhances everyone’s lives. When talking with neighbors, artists, bloggers and our very own children, we’ve repeatedly heard that people want and need more indoor enrichment activities for children and families. Add to that the desire to have fewer bars, restaurants, and clubs, we believe Creative Grounds DC is a great addition to the Bloomingdale neighborhood the District as a whole.  As a supporter of the arts community here in DC, we strive to provide opportunities to create, connect and engage with art and other artists.  With YOUR support, we can do this and so much more!

What will your contribution support?

We are committed to providing everyone access to Creative Grounds DC through the use of the space as a platform to showcase their work and to enable their participation in all Creative Grounds DC programming. Art supplies, the art library and the Hearts and Arts program (arts organizations working with underserved communities) will all benefit from your support. While Creative Grounds DC is a privately funded endeavor, it is through individual donations that we are able to ensure the diversity and access to programs, essential build out, equipment, and supplies. More than this, your support is proof of concept that the arts are vitally important and add value to our community.

Werk, Werk, Werk, Werk

In just the last 6 months, we have immersed ourselves in the work of becoming Creative Grounds DC by:

• Obtaining an LLC, registered agent and other legal documents;
• Personally vetting and hosting behind the scene openings for potential suppliers, vendors, strategic partners and art educators;
• Attending cupping and food tastings; We wanted to offer you the best coffee and food experience. You are going to LOVE the coffee and food.
• We received mentorship from the good people at Keffa Coffee, Keren Restaurant and Anna Banana on how to make this project a success (Thank you Ladies!);
• Securing a brand strategist, videographer and accountant.  It takes a village, right?
• Scheduling barista training and art classes--you know just to brush up and learn new skills. and there’s still so much more to do...

Kenn & Asmara

Why We're So Passionate About Creative Grounds DC

4,475 days, 2 children, 3 continents, Multiple jobs, 2 homes and 14 birthdays later, Asmara and Kenn are the faces behind Creative Grounds DC.

ASMARA: What’s most important here is that you know just much I LOVE great coffee and that art sets my soul on fire. I know, pretty intense, but it is true. Art is awareness and I am drawn to artwork that speaks to important social concerns, issues of identity, politics, and culture. Considering just how heavy these themes are, without an outlet, strong feelings are buried, unexplored and unresolved. It is the realization that Art is a necessary vehicle for identifying and expressing one’s self to facilitate true expression, healing, and transformation, and if done with good intentions, a shared humanity.

Art is a language that everyone understands; a home that everyone belongs to. So, it makes sense that I create a place that strives to be inclusive, healing, transformative and humane.

In my previous life,  I was a nonprofit executive working with immigrants and refugees. Let it be known I am a proud first-generation Eritrean-American. My parents immigrated to the US from Eritrea, East Africa. Professionally, my greatest honor has been working with underserved children and immigrant and refugee youth. Asmara loves the kids! I’ve chaired the boards of arts and governmental organizations. My greatest honor is being the mom of two amazing kiddos, who love art and understand that mommy does not rise until the Bialetti espresso maker begins percolating.

Coffee is right up there with my love of art! Ethically sourced, Yirgacheff happens to be my all time favorite. That said, I am hearing great things about coffee from Kigali and Uganda. Ok, let me focus. My maternal grandfather was a coffee cultivator. He lived most of his life in the coffee plantations of his village in Eritrea. And, while Eritrea does not export much coffee, shipments often found their way to DC and on to my mother’s table. And, so it began. The preparation and ritual of it all is bewitching. The smell of roasting beans permeated our hair and clothes. That fragrance should truly be bottled and sold! While I can not promise to do that, I can offer you the next best thing: ethically sourced, specialty roasted coffee at Creative Grounds DC. I am telling you, you are going to love it!

KENN: I am an eighth generation Washingtonian. I was raised in the Eastland Gardens and Brookland communities. It was there that I developed my sense of worth, work ethic, and pride. Raised by an art collector/community organizer and educator I was intimately aware of both the beauty and ugliness surrounding us. My upbringing gave me the sense that I could change my reality. That life should be aspirational. So I chose to pursue a career in real estate helping first-time home buyers and low-income families purchase homes.

Good business is not simply about making money it’s about changing lives and filling gaps or voids where they exist. Creative Grounds DC will do exactly this. As you have read above, we need more enriching indoor activities for kids and our arts community deserves more support. Without businesses like Creative Grounds DC, the voids or gaps persist. This project is our way of being solution-oriented.  We simply need your support. As Asmara noted, we are parents to two amazing kids and it has always been our mission to expose them to the art world, be it through performance art, visual media, or writing.

In fact, we have seen the benefits of art practice in our own daughter, who when frustrated or struggling with self-regulation, will go to her art journal to find peace through doodling.  We love Creative Grounds DC and we think you will too.

What does it take to open a hybrid arts studio + coffee bar?

So we have already financially invested roughly half of the startup costs for Creative Grounds DC. But we still need your support. Your contributions will go toward the following:

There are Other Ways You Can Help

Spread the word: Use Indiegogo's share tools, use the hashtag #creativegroundsdc and tag us! We're on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest @CreativeGroundsDC and on Twitter and Periscope @CreativeGrndsDC. Call your friends and tell them about the awesome perks they can receive for supporting the arts (and great coffee).
 

Write about us: If you write for the media or have a blog focused on children, parenting, family, the arts, coffee, DC or business/entrepreneurship, contact us at info@creativegroundsdc.com and let’s create epic content.

Thank you for your support!

We can’t wait to invite you into our new space. Creative Grounds DC: where arts, community & coffee meet.

Let’s create something extraordinary,

Kenn & Asmara

(in other circles, known as the KAKS-Kenn, Asmara, Khalab and Samra)