Woodstock Wanderings has Breaking News: Sign Language Café Opens Half a Mile From Campus
After closing in August of 2023, Woodstock Café – at 4103 SE Woodstock Blvd, half a mile away from campus – is reopening, transforming into the Sign Language Café, a place where hearing, Deaf, and hard of hearing individuals can enjoy coffee together in an inclusive environment. “Imagine a place where everyone can feel included despite their hearing abilities. A space where the symphony of life transcends barriers. Where every laugh, every story, and every connection resonates equally,” says @woodstockcafepdx on Instagram. After walking into the café last weekend, I was greeted warmly by Deaf baristas, who helped me along as my years of signing experience barely prepared me enough to order a mocha with “cow milk.” I was able to meet members of CymaSpace, the nonprofit organization responsible for creating the Sign Language Café, who provided me with a relaxing break from my Hum essay with ASL conversation.
After reaching out to Myles de Bastion, Deaf Artistic Director, Musician and Creative-altruist (as described on his website), I had the pleasure of learning more about CymaSpace. CymaSpace, founded in 2012 by de Bastion himself, uses both technology and the arts to “make cultural events accessible to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community.” The Sign Language Café is just one of many ways CymaSpace accomplishes this goal – the organization also fosters development of sign language skills among Deaf and hard of hearing children with their SignKids program, creates “Visual Sound” systems for performing arts events with the Audiolux system, and makes vibrohaptic furniture for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals to help feel music via vibration and touch. At the Sign Language Café, CymaSpace plans to “integrate accessibility into every aspect of the café experience, from service to ambiance, ensuring that both Deaf and hearing patrons can fully enjoy their visit.”
CymaSpace hopes to use the café to bridge the “communication gap between the Deaf and hearing communities,” adapting to the needs of the Woodstock community, which has given an “overwhelmingly positive” response since its opening, “encouraging us to continue refining and expanding our offerings.”
As the café grows, CymaSpace plans to expand upon the current menu of coffee and specialty drinks to add food items “focusing on scratch-made items to accommodate a wide range of dietary needs using local, sustainable ingredients.” The café added pastries to the menu this Wednesday, April 16, as confirmed by an Instagram comment, including fresh baked cookies, as portrayed in a post on Wednesday.
The café plans to extend its role in the community through events to cater to the Deaf community and beyond, organizing coffee tasting, along with ASL classes and ASL poetry nights. ASL poetry is a way to expand the form of poetry to a three-dimensional, visual space, using hand shapes and rhythmic movement to create ASL equivalents to meter and alliteration.
One thing I noticed when visiting the Sign Language Café was the stringed lights spanning across all of its windows, which seemed to change color in tune with the music playing. These lights were created by de Bastion himself, who designed them “to convey soft, gentle patterns that enhance the café’s ambiance during regular hours.” The lights will also be utilized during events, as they are capable of “providing dynamic visualizations of sound, turning music and spoken word into a visual experience that complements the auditory one, making performances accessible and engaging for Deaf patrons.”
Overall, de Bastion hopes that the café can “serve as a hub for the Portland Deaf community—a place for both relaxation and engagement.” In further explaining his goals, he said, “We aim to provide employment opportunities, foster Deaf culture, support ASL literacy, and promote accessibility in arts and culture. By doing so, we hope to create a model for inclusive community spaces that can be replicated elsewhere.”
The café will have its grand opening this Saturday and Sunday, April 20 and 21, from 7:00am-5:00pm.