Ten artists will set up shop in the recently-launched Coffee Mafia on Wednesday to give the public an opportunity to browse a variety of locally-made products while enjoying an evening coffee.
Coffee Mafia's first Makers Market is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 22 from 5-7 p.m. This is the first event the shop will be putting on since switching ownership and rebranding from its former Mama Mocha's name in June.
Ian Oriol, owner of Coffee Mafia and freelance artist, said he wanted to make this his first event under the new name after having sold things at other similar markets. Now a business owner himself, he said he felt compelled to run a market of his own.
“This is the first time we’ve done a market-style kind of thing where we invite a bunch of creators to come in and try and get their stuff out there to the people,” he said.
The 10 artists booked for the first market are looking to sell jewelry, stickers, knit rainbows, prints and other crafts, with Oriol among them with his crafts for sale.
“I want to give a platform for artists to sell their stuff, but I’m also excited because this is the first time that I’m going to be selling my own stuff since the pandemic [began],” Oriol said.
Oriol describes his art as “kitschy, cheeky and a bit in your face.”
To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Oriol said Coffee Mafia will take safety precautions and the shop asks that their customers wear masks throughout the event.
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Ansley Franco, junior in journalism, is a community writer for The Auburn Plainsman.
