Once a month, when the doors open at Art Boutiki, the San Jose night spot is filled with cafeteria-style tables, with enough seating for 60 to 80 people. And every month, Drink and Draw co-organizer Carlos Velazquez says, “We pack the place.”
What’s the attraction at this free, all-ages event? At Drink and Draw, everyone can express their inner creativity while enjoying community. And for the grownups, there are adult beverages on hand.
This monthly event at Art Boutiki has developed into a Bay Area institution. Hosted by Velazquez and his wife, Alca Usan, Drink and Draw is one of the club’s longest-running events.
The couple supplies much of the materials, Usan says. “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. Some people bring their own supplies, such as crochet projects, and even watercolors and an easel. “It’s become a place where you can just show up, or come prepared with whatever,” she explains.
Velazquez and Usan are celebrating five years as hosts of Drink and Draw, an event initially started by Art Boutiki owner Dan Vado, who 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,” Vado 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, Vado 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.”
Fortunately, Velazquez and Usan were ready to keep Drink and Draw going. Velazquez, a regular at Art Boutiki at its original First Street location, says he has known 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.”)
“I used to doodle a lot when I was a kid,” Velazquez says. “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.
“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,” Usan says. “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. A teacher by day, she says 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 cocktails can be icebreakers. “The kids are like, ‘Oh my god! My mom’s having a drink with my teacher. What’s going on here?’” Usan laughs.
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 lowrider soul,” Velazquez says.
July 17’s event will feature hand-thrown pizza and 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, no-pressure scene is right for playing board games (also provided) or simply hanging out.
Velazquez and Usan emphasize that Drink and Draw owes much of its success to 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,” Velazquez says.
Drink and Draw ft. Thee Home Girls of Soul runs 7-11pm on July 17 at Art Boutiki, 44 Race St, San Jose. Free. artboutiki.com