In this story
When Melissa and the Brewpoint Coffee team began working with me on an Elmhurst mug, the question was not simply which landmarks would fit. We wanted the drawing to feel like the place people move through every day, and to have a home in a coffee shop already woven into that routine.
A town with more than one kind of gathering place
Wilder Park gave me a natural starting point. From there, Elmhurst Art Museum, York Theatre, Elmhurst University’s Old Main, the Illinois Prairie Path, and the Metra station offered very different shapes and associations. Parks, art, education, a movie night, a walk, and a train ride all belong to the same local story.
I drew those elements individually before arranging them across the curve of the mug. A wraparound design lets someone find a familiar detail on another side each time they use it.
Why Brewpoint belongs in the story
A town mug makes the most sense to me when it can be found in a place where people already meet. Working with Melissa and the many people behind Brewpoint made this a collaboration about Elmhurst, not just an illustration of Elmhurst. The finished mug is available through Brewpoint Coffee.
If you want to see the artwork more closely, explore the Elmhurst Mug page for the drawings, local details, and shop information.
A gift idea with a real place behind it
For a friend who has moved away, the familiar names in the artwork do the work: Wilder Park and Elmhurst Art Museum are reminders of an actual place. Include a note naming the moment you shared there, or ask which detail they noticed first when you give it to them.
The shop and the coffee
Brewpoint has grown from a coffee shop into a business with a roastery and several gathering spaces. Its own story describes sourcing and roasting its coffee, so a bag of Brewpoint beans alongside this mug makes an Elmhurst gift that connects the artwork to the people who helped bring it to life. Read Brewpoint Coffee’s own story for its current coffee offerings.
Ashley Ann
