A new exhibit features artwork and photographs produced by Café Art, a social enterprise for people affected by homelessness. The exhibit began on Monday at the new Shine coffee shop on Turnpike Lane.

Cafe Art began in 2012 with the idea to hang artwork produced in homelessness art groups on empty cafe walls. Cafe Art catapulted itself into a leading social enterprise that not only celebrates art and hidden talent but more importantly connects people from all walks of life through their programmes.

Paul Ryan, Cafe Art director, says that this exhibition will showcase some of the original paintings from 2012 and they are all for sale with proceeds from each sale going to the artist.

“It is great to celebrate our sixth birthday with an exhibition of some of our original artists’ work. The fact that Shine has opened to empower vulnerable people makes this exhibition very special,” he comments.

The exhibition features original framed photographs and paintings which are extremely good in their own right. Kevin Farrell, Shine’s project officer says: “We think that you will have a hard time choosing just one, the photographs in particular capture a unique perspective of the world around us and are a must see.

“It has been an honour to collaborate with Cafe Art over the past few years and we have seen the positive impact on our service users. The exhibition will be another step towards highlighting Shine as a socially inclusive space within Haringey”.

Cafe Art aims to connect the buyer of a piece of art with the artist over a cuppa in the cafe where the art is hung. This is a great way for two complete strangers whose life paths may be so different to meet to share their love of art and their stories.

Exhibition runs until June 30 at Shine. Café Art will be hosting a meet the artist event on June 14 from 12pm in preparation for their annual MyLondon photography competition.