The wineries of the Traverse City Wine & Art Festival poured for the Gala Preview Opening for Café Society: coffee house portraits. This premier event generated 70% of the funds needed for an annual scholarship of $1,000 that will be awarded to a Northern Michigan coffee house worker in perpetuity.

The opening was a night of coffee, art, wine, and Northern Michigan celebrities including Doug Stanton, Paul Hramiec, and Harry Goldson. In addition to the wine, guests enjoyed coffee from Roast & Toast (Petoskey), pastries from Cuppa Joe (Traverse City) and Crema (Traverse City), and hors d’oeuvres courtesy of City Park Grill (Petoskey) and Three Pines Studio & Gallery (Cross Village). The highlight of the evening was the premier of Café Society: coffee house portraits, a collection of 30 original pastel portraits of Northern Michigan baristas by Bill Hosner.

Hosner, an internationally recognized pastel artist and avid coffee-lover, chose to paint baristas at his favorite coffee houses after years of getting to know them. Most portraits were completed within the coffee houses in one hour. While painting the baristas, Hosner listened to their hopes and dreams. Hearing their stories reminded him of his own youth, and he was compelled to do something to help fuel their drive and ambition. He wanted others to see their unique “coffee house culture” the way he did, and so the Café Society was born.

Café Society: coffee house portraits will continue to be displayed at the Little Traverse History Museum through at least September 10. The Museum is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm and Saturday 1pm-4pm. Admission is $4 per person over age 18, $1 for children age 5-17, and free to members and children under 5. The Little Traverse History Museum is located in the historic train depot on the Petoskey waterfront.

A Master Pastelist, Bill Hosner’s work is solely dedicated to the art of plein air painting. For Bill it all makes sense; “A photograph freezes a moment in time. While, over a painting session everything is moving, changing… the artist as well as the subject. During that experience the work evolves, is dynamic and can take on the energies of life. Painting en plein air lifts my spirit. And in so doing, it amplifies my recognition of a God given value and uniqueness in the world that surrounds me.” In the Midwest, Bill’s art is available exclusively at Suttons Bay Galleries in Suttons Bay, Michigan. To learn more about Bill’s work, visit www.williamhosner.com.