Membership

Membership is open to all and will support the development and maintenance of the café and performance spaces. Memberships help fund queer artists directly which enriches our programming and funds innovation in our community services.

Members get access to:

• a performance schedule that prioritizes queer artists

• a comfortable space to develop, improve, and share your art

• flexible pricing on space rental after 4 months

• workshops, tutorials, and professional development

• access to our growing audience

• rehearsal space

• studio and production packages

• live stream broadcasting and virtual event recording

• opportunities to lead initiatives, produce events, and shape ‘The Mug’

• patreon content

• a supportive community <3

The Painted Mug Cafe, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a new performance space, venue for rent, and (soon-to-be) full-service café with espresso bar. ‘The Mug’ was developed by a collaborative team of queer artists seeking to serve and empower our LGBTQIA+ community through ambitious programming made accessible—physically and digitally. The café is on track to be worker-owned, and we will reinvest in the QTPOC and disabled artists of our city by prioritizing a shared narrative in our programming. ‘The Mug’ is an intentional LGBTQIA+ performance space and designed to decenter drugs and alcohol.

We seek to provide opportunities for growth for our member-artists, including access to work, talent-incubation, and professional development. We believe a performance space for queer artists designed by queer artists is as empowering as it is unique.

For our neighbors, we seek to be an LGBTQIA+ affirming asset of the community with great coffee, and the venue chosen to host those personal milestone events that will become lifelong happy memories.

Venue rental & event Services

Anyone can rent The Painted Mug Café to host open or private events. It is an affordable and LGTBQIA+ affirming space that is great for one-time events and re-occurring use.

Consider us for: Birthday Parties, Board Meetings, Commitment Ceremonies, Small Weddings, Graduation Parties, Memorial Services, Plays, Drag Shows, Cabarets, Burlesque Shows, Competitions, Dance Parties, Community Meetings, Event Receptions, Celebrations, Adoption Parties, Small Conferences, Speed Dating Events, Sip and Paint Events, Lectures, Book Signings, Pop-up Shops, Community Services Meet-ups, Political Canvassing Launches, Engagement Parties, Baby Showers, Debates, Workshops, Photoshoots Video Recording, Retreats, Fundraisers, Collaborative Work, and more!

How to Support

The best ways to support The Painted Mug Cafe at this time are to donate to the space’s GoFundMe or make monthly contributions by becoming a Patreon Member; patreons will gain access to digital content and special perks.

Coming Soon

We hope to grow what we offer in the future to include the following:

• Live streamed events with digital playback for all shows

• Full wheelchair accessibility

• Daily coffee shop service with seating— great for morning kick-offs, mid-day breaks, and that solo or small-group collaborative work

• Opportunities to display and sell decorative art on Cafe walls

• Painted Mug ‘Merch’ :-)