Drink and Draw: All Vinyl, All Ages, All Free
written by Bill Kopp
At Drink and Draw, kids and grownups alike can express their inner creativity while enjoying community. And for the grownups, there are adult beverages on hand. This monthly event has developed into a Bay Area institution. Hosted by Alca Usan and her husband Carlos Velazquez, Drink and Draw has taken its place as one of the longest-running events at San Jose's Art Boutiki.
Velazquez says that he has known Art Boutiki owner Dan Vado for more than 20 years. "He was captain of a roller hockey team The Drunken Moneys, and I played with him for more than ten years." Velazquez started attending live music shows at Art Boutiki at its original First Street location. He moved away for a few years, but when he and wife Alca Usan returned in 2015, Art Boutiki had moved to its current location on Ray Street. There, Vado had launched a regular event he called Drink and Draw.
"I used to doodle a lot when I was a kid," says Velazquez. "So I was fascinated by the opportunity to go somewhere and draw while someone played music." He says that the "meditative experience of drawing" attracted him to Drink and Draw, and he could see that other people enjoyed it as well.
Vado readily admits that he didn't invent the Drink and Draw concept. "In its most traditional sense, 'drink and draw' is simply something that artists do at comic book conventions all over the country," he says. "I decided to [take that concept] and turn it into something where people could come and just hang out." After hosting the event himself for some months, he judged it a mixed success. "I had a variety of friends come in and play some really awful music," he says with a laugh. "Okay, not awful, but not what someone walking in to order a pizza and a couple of beers is going to want to listen to all night. So I was very close to canceling Drink and Draw."
Velazquez says that he didn't want to see that happen. "I asked Dan, 'Let me and my wife host it. I'll provide the music, and Alca will do the flyers.' So we did, and started anew in 2018." The event took a two-year pause during the pandemic, but now it's back and as popular as ever. "The original vision is being played out every time at Drink and Draw," says Usan. "One of the cool things about it is that it's all-ages." For Velazquez and Usan, that means they can bring their entire family. "Our 21-year old started coming five years ago, and now our three-year-old is there, running all over the place," she says with a smile.
Usan says that Drink and Draw attracts a lot of families. "There are some folks who are regulars; they've been coming so long that they've become friends and 'family.'" Usan is a teacher by day, and many of her students come, bringing their parents. "It doesn't matter which table you sit at," she says. "You're going to end up talking to the people at that table. It's like you all came to the same family party together." And the adults can enjoy a beverage. "The kids are like, 'Oh my god! My mom's having a drink my with teacher. What's going on here?'" Usan laughs.
The Art Boutiki space allows plenty of room for the free-admission Drink and Draw. "There are 10 to 12 cafeteria-style tables, enough room for about 60-80 people," Velazquez says. "And every month, we pack the place." The couple supplies much of the materials, and some people bring their own. "The tables are covered in butcher paper, so some people just draw on the tables with the markers and crayons that are out," Usan says. Other people bring their own crochet projects, and sometimes an attendee will show up with watercolors and an easel. "It's become a place where you can just show up, or come prepared with whatever [you want to work on]," she explains.
Carlos is in charge of the music, all of which is sourced from vinyl records. "I'm grounded in '60s soul and Latin," he says. "You'll hear a lot of Motown and surf music." He also regularly brings in "guest selectors" like DJ Brown Amy, Blair Carson of Pageboy Salon and Bay Area radio legend Chuy Gomez; they bring along their own vinyl. "The guests allow us to [explore] different genres from reggae to hip hop to low rider soul," Velazquez says.
July 17's event will feature guest selectors Thee Homegirls of Soul, a Bay Area collective of female DJs. Velazquez notes that record collecting is a stereotypical male activity. "But the Bay Area has a wonderful community of female DJs, so I wanted to give Shi Shi, Lore, Teresa and Margarita the space at Drink and Draw. I've been wanting to have them as our guest selectors for many years," Velazquez says. "They're veterans of collecting, and they'll all be spinning records."
Usan draws a new flyer for each month's Drink and Draw. "Since it's a different DJ each time, I do a little bit of Instagram following, checking them out and looking for something that I'm inspired by," she says. "In November, you might see little things hinting at Carlos' or our baby's birthday." There's no template, so each flyer is an original work. "I enjoy making it different every single time," Usan says.
Amassing a back-catalog of five years' worth of monthly flyers, the couple realized that the artwork could be repurposed. "Dan had been printing them out to use as coloring sheets [for attendees]," Usan says. So we've collected some of them and put them together as a coloring book." While supplies last, a limited number of those coloring books will be available for purchase at Drink and Draw events.
For those who don't wish to draw, there's the music to enjoy. And the warm, family-oriented and no-pressure scene is right for playing board games (also provided) or simply hanging out and taking in the friendly vibes.
Velazquez and Usan emphasize that Drink and Draw owes much of its success to Art Boutiki's Dan Vado. "I don't think we would have been able to have made the event as it is -- or continue it -- if it wasn't for the family vibe, the aesthetics and the environment that the Art Boutiki has created," says Velazquez.