With all of the deadlines University of Arizona students must go through, coffee is often a necessity. For students and customers at Cartel Coffee last Saturday, they were treated to an art display along with their vanilla lattes.

Last week, a group of University of Arizona art students put on a display at Cartel Coffee Lab on Campbell. Dubbed “Vast Vicinities,” the art students showcased two-dimensional pieces of art from a dozen artists. For Cartel customers that night, they received more than their money’s worth with lattes and art in full effect.

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Maddison Reinhardt, a senior, Anna Petronella, a junior, and Kennady Schneider, a sophomore, are all studio art majors and curated the event last Saturday.

“We actually did this for a class and for our final project we had to curate a show within the Tucson community,” said Anna Petronella. “And that is what sparked the motivation towards Vast Vicinities.”

Petronella marketed and did graphic design for the project, while Reinhardt prepared the art and designed the exhibit. Kennady handled the copy writing and photographing for the reception.

“First of all, we had to figure out a theme and with us all being in the art program, we had a theme in mind,” said Reinhardt. “We were actually really lucky because all of the submitted artwork went along with our theme.”

While it was not the first time Cartel had displayed art, Cartel had never had the display like the art students put on last week.

“Cartel has displayed art before but from what I could tell it was not a full show like our display,” Petronella said. “It was typically one or two artists that put up multiple pieces of work to sell at Cartel.”

With that in mind, the students decided to organize an exhibit at Cartel for their family, friends and Cartel customers to enjoy.

“We were interested in putting up a show here that was more of an exhibition for people to enjoy,” Petronella said. “All of the artworks are up for sale but it is more for the experience of the show.”

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 “I think it went really well, it was better than I thought it would be just because it was a new experience for us,” Reinhardt said.

The art students said they were happy with the turn out. 

“We both had family and friends that came to the reception that told us how pleased they were with the art,” Petronella said. “The Cartel has told us how happy they are with the show and how much they enjoy it.”

While the students’ family members had shown support, Cartel customers also showed interests at the art.

“The Cartel customers wanted to know more about the art when we had the reception,” Petronella said. “Many regular customers of The Cartel showed interest, so I think it had a positive outcome.”

While art often gets overlooked in society, the students showed just how crucial art can be in getting your message across.

“I feel like art is a good way to get people involved,” Reinhardt said. “When you have a visual representation of a concept, it is easier to make connections and conversations to bring people together.”

Reinhardt and Petronella have not ruled out the possibility of displaying another art exhibit in the future. For Cartel Coffee fans, another art exhibit could be in the making very soon.

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