New owners hope Dr. Java
becomes literary, arts venue

Sunday, May 25, 2008
By: THOMAS B. HARRISON
Arts Editor

     The place seems ideally suited for a pair of bright, young
entrepreneurs with an affection for art, artists and books.
     "We worked with a business broker, who was great, says
Zielinski. "We loved this place, and we discussed the pluses and
minus, and the opportunities. The restaurant business just wasn't
us, so we tried to find something that was us. Nothing else even
came close. . . . The previous owner was excited to pass it on to
us."
     For Zielinski, a former Marine, the excitement is in the
mundane.  No more white-knuckle moments in the cockpit of a
chopper.
     "I'll get calls here like, 'My God, we're out of syrup!'" she
says. "All these little tragedies. 'The whipped cream thing isn't
working right!' You know, that's cool.
     "We're ready for the next phase of our life and this is
investment in doing what we believe," she says."It's an
opportunity to work with artists and turn it into anything we
wanted — to bring in a library, books, art. To make it a
community crossroads."
     Blaesing is frankly surprised by the sudden positive response
to Dr. Java.
     "We expected to have months where we wouldn't have
anybody coming through the door," he says, "no new faces and
we'd have to struggle to put events together. The hardest thing
was just bringing all the pieces together, but the response from
other people helped make it flow."
     Blaesing would like to see Dr. Java become a nerve center for
visual, literary and performing arts, with eventually a sustainable
catering service.
     Zielinski, 32, and Blaesing, 29, moved in as the new owners
of Dr. Java on March 7 and made a few changes right away. The
bakery case is always full now, with some of the pastries
supplied by a local bakery and the rest baked in-house. The place
added drip-brew coffee, a relief to customers leery of specialty
coffees. They also held on to baristas Amanda and Sara, who
worked for the previous owner.
     The new owners changed the color scheme and added sturdy
bookshelves stocked with volumes they bought for pennies on
the dollar at the Mobile Public Library annual book sale and
from Russ Adams at Bienville Books.
     They added a roomful of heavy-duty chairs ($20 apiece)
purchased through a regional restaurant chain; and they installed
leather chairs and sofas for a more relaxed atmosphere.
     However, the most striking change took place on the four
walls of the coffee house. Zielinski says there were "about 400
pictures on the wall and they all read 'Coffee,' 'Cappuccino' or
'Café.'" She and Blaesing wanted real art by real artists. Now
they have it.
     Through mid-June, Dr. Java will display paintings by Skye
Murrill and Jamie Savoy Kirk, found-object sculpture by Josh
Ashley and photography by Daniel Anderson. View the artwork
and learn more about Dr. Java at http:/ /www.drjava.com .
     Coffee-house tradition demands a literary component, and
Zielinski and Blaesing added a series of Sunday poetry readings.
The first begins at 2:30 p.m. today and showcases the talents of
Stephen Douglas Hedrick, executive director of the Mobile
Symphony Orchestra. An open mike follows.
     Zielinski says the coffee house is working with Alabama Poet
Laureate Sue Brannan Walker, Ph.D., to stage poetry readings on
the last Sunday of each month. The Mobile Chess Club now
meets at Dr. Java at 6 p.m. Thursdays "and is slowly being
persuaded to meet here on Saturday and Sunday mornings as
well," she says.
     In October the coffee house will participate in World Zombie
Walk Day to raise awareness of hunger by incorporating food
drives into the zombie walks.
     Dr. Java drew more than 200 guests to its grand reopening
May 2, and reaction to the artwork was enthusiastic.
     Ashley, a found-object artist with a background in painting,
says Blaesing and Zielinski are "incredible" and he thinks they
can "bring a little culture" to west Mobile.
     "If they are pioneers of that," he says, "I'll do everything I can
to help."
     Kirk and Blaesing have known each other awhile, and the
former says he wanted to be a part of the opening show because
the new owners are "patrons of the arts."
     Murrill, a 22-year-old senior art major at the University of
South Alabama, says Blaesing and Zielinski "have been
extremely supportive, and I will be more than happy to support
them in return."
     "It's refreshing to see local artists being supported in the
community," Murrill says. "People think of Mobile as not
necessarily the most culturally enriched, artsy place around. It's
so nice to have that (venue) especially coming from local artists."
     Dr. Java also will display artwork by youngsters throughout
the summer. Art by kids from St. Ignatius has been on view;
more work is on the way from St. Paul's Episcopal School.
     Zielinski says the eclectic, complementary nature of the
artwork reflects the relationships she hopes to foster with two
other west Mobile coffee houses, Satori and Carpe Diem.
     "We are really trying to go for this complementary thing as
opposed to being competitors," she says.
     Although Mobile doesn't have a coffee-house culture a la
Seattle or Portland, Ore., the potential is there, according to Blaesing, who lived and worked in New Orleans for eight years.
     "In my time there, the place I went to get away and really
meet people was I'd go to a coffee shop," he says. "I'd go for
poetry readings at the Maple Leaf, for conversation, somewhere
quiet I could sit down and read a book.
     "It seemed kind of fitting when we were looking for places in
the city and this happened be available at a reasonable price. We
walked in and saw how much space we had to work with. It
seemed be best way to get involved with arts in the community
and get to know people here. It all seemed to make sense."

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