Caffe Lena Inc
The Caffe Lena History Project -
ASCAP DEEMS TAYLOR & GRAMMY Foundation Award-Winning
Partners: The Library of Congress, Skidmore College, the Mellon Foundation
Creative Concept, Content, Strategy, Archival Research, Book, Video, Exhibition, Website and Live Event Production
“Jocelyn Arem wrote and produced a book in 2013 about the historic folk club of which I am the Executive Director, and Tim Robbins wrote the foreword. The book helped us tell our venue's story of social justice, deep friendships and endless songs to an international audience. It catalyzed a transformation of our small non-profit organization. Over the course of the following two years, [using the book as a marketing and fundraising tool] we completed a $2 million renovation of our building, that has made our performance space beautiful, accessible, and widely regarded as the best sounding venue in our region. As our venue and operation has grown, our schedule now regularly includes musicians who take a night off of concert hall gigs to play our intimate stage for fans who relish the opportunity to experience a show in room that is so rich in history and comfortable and great sounding. The book Jocelyn created saved our venue.”
- Sarah Craig, Caffe Lena
The Ask
In honor of Caffè Lena’s 50th Anniversary we embarked on an unprecedented mission to define the venue’s legacy across new marketing products, platforms, and brand. The Caffè is a venerated cultural institution recognized by the Library of Congress as the “oldest surviving American folk music coffeehouse” - yet the full story of its pioneering founder, its community impact and intergenerational connection had never been told.
Beginning with a comprehensive survey, we analyzed the Caffè’s full scope of archival content across virtually all touchpoints: audio, video, photography, artwork and text, as well as researching similar representative archival content of comparative venues. After conducting more than 150 oral history interviews and analyzing more than 6,000 photographs, 600 live recorded shows, and 100 boxes of archival memorabilia, we identified core principles and key stories to inform Caffè Lena’s legacy.
Our Deliverables
The project resulted in an ASCAP-Deems Taylor and GRAMMY Foundation Award-winning full treatment of the material across cross-marketed platforms including:
A CD box set produced in collaboration with the Magic Shop Studio
A 300-page coffee table book with foreword by Tim Robbins (powerhouse Books)
An immersive exhibition (Tang Museum, powerHouse Arena)
An audiovisual trailer (*below) and special feature at GRAMMY Week in Los Angeles, introduced by Sharon Osborne and featuring Rufus Wainwright
A live activation event at Skidmore College with student remix performances of archival music showcasing the Caffè’s timeless music to a modern day audience.
A social media campaign
The donation of the full Caffè Lena archives to the Library of Congress, and an online searchable digital database now available to researchers.
$2M raised for the Caffe’s successful Capital Campaign using the book as a marketing tool, which enabled the venue to completely renovate and restore its historic building.
“A couple of years ago I was approached by Jocelyn Arem, a bright and inspired young woman who was working on a book about Lena Spencer and her Caffè. She had unearthed a treasure trove of photographs containing a who's-who of musicians that had graced the Caffè Lena stage. My first time on a stage performing for an audience was at Caffè Lena in 1965. Jocelyn showed me pictures I had never seen of my dad performing there. Caffè Lena gave a stage to people who were telling the American story. Looking at the photos brought me back to a beautiful time.”
— Tim Robbins, Academy Award-winning Actor/Director
