Meet the artists of Saints Rest Coffee House

“It’s hard to say what you’ll notice when you open Saints Rest’s front door,” begins the About page on Saints Rest Coffee House’s website. Walking in, one might notice the faces of regular patrons, the coffee machines, or the cozy arrangement of tables and couches scattering the coffee house’s interior. Yet, a mainstay detail of the interior design — one that might initially blend in amidst the hustle and bustle of a regular day’s operations at Saints — is the wide collection of colorful art that lines the walls.

Jeff Phelps `71, the original owner of Saints Rest, initially opened the coffee house with the vision that it would be both a coffee shop and a functioning art gallery. “He actually had a curator, and he had a lot more artwork than what I have, and a lot more varied artists,” said current owner, Sam Cox, who is also mayor-elect of Grinnell. What used to be a more ambitious and diverse collection has since transformed into a more local selection of works contributed by Grinnell artists.

“For us, it’s all very local right now. We used to have artists from Newton, from Williamsburg, from Des Moines, and pretty much everyone that we have now is a very local Grinnell contact,” said Cox.

One such local artist featured is Lynn Bodensteiner, whose large canvases hang on the peach wall at the back of the shop. “She has sold at least three pieces, maybe four, since she and I started this partnership,” said Cox. “Hers are very reasonably priced. I think they’re all around $300, which for a lot of people, is very affordable. I think that’s kind of the driving force for the artwork that sells in our shop, that it’s affordable.”

“Barn Reflection” by Lynn Bodensteiner is on sale for $350. (Keegan McLaughlin)

Bodensteiner grew up in Grinnell, and attended high school with Cox. Since then, Bodensteiner has moved to Colorado after graduating college, but still continues to create art. “Professionally, I work in the psychiatry/mental health world such that it’s been one of my self-care outlets,” Bodensteiner wrote in an email to The S&B. “My favorite medium is acrylic paint. I also do watercolor when I work on a smaller scale.”

Another series on the walls are the collection of wedding-themed pieces above the couches, in addition to a multitude of plein air works created by Sara Peak Convery. Peak Convery has since moved from Grinnell, and now lives in Chicago. Currently, she said, her primary focus has transitioned to the creation of political art, commenting on current events within Chicago and the nation. “After Trump was elected the first time, I started doing stuff with flags. So I started taking apart and reconfiguring U.S. flags in more recent times,” said Peak Convery. “I use them in different ways to create things.”

Aside from Saints, Peak Convery’s work has been in library exhibits, local Chicago coffee shops — and also, local protests. For instance, she said, “There’s a young person who’s doing a protest group, and I thought to get in touch with him, and I did a flag for him. One of them says ‘Rage against the ICE machine.’” Her current work can be found on her Instagram page.

Despite the amount of art that lines the walls in Saints Rest, the search for new art remains a small operation. “We’ve been very fortunate to have different kinds of artists filter through for different reasons,” said Cox. “But no, we’re not on the search, and I know we need to do better about presenting that all of our artwork is, in fact, for sale.”

“I love to tell anyone that is interested, we want to take a look at their stuff and see if we can find a place for it,” Cox added. As written on their website, Saints Rest has something for you — including art.