Ready to Stock Your Art in East Austin? Apply for the Dear Diary Artist Residency!
Apply before midnight August 15, 2026
Calling all Austin makers, illustrators, ceramicists, and crafters! Dear Diary Coffee is opening up applications for our upcoming Artist Residency season.
We’re offering local artists a full year of dedicated shelf space in our East Austin shop. We handle the space, security, point-of-sale setup, and payouts—you just stock your shelf, sit back, and collect your earnings. Plus, as a resident artist, you'll have free opportunities to host pop-up shops and connect directly with our amazing neighborhood community.
Before you re-submit or send in your application, read through our FAQ below to get all the details on what sells best, how payouts work, and how to bump your application to the top of the stack!
FAQ
What is Dear Diary Coffee?
Dear Diary is a neighborhood coffee shop located at 1212 Chicon Street in East Austin, Texas. We share our retail space with local makers who sell fine art, prints, ceramics, jewelry, and other gifts.
What does it mean to be a resident artist?
Each artist is given a shelf to stock and decorate however they'd like. Because their residency lasts a full year, they have plenty of time to experiment with their product mix and display to see what sells best.
How are residents paid?
Otherwise, our artists can just sit back and collect checks. Dear Diary Coffee takes a 35% commission for providing the retail space and security cameras, creating sales reports, and cutting checks (or direct deposits).
Are there other ways to sell art at Dear Diary?
Artists are also invited to set up pop-up shops at Dear Diary Coffee at no cost to sell direct to their customers. You can learn more about that at:
https://www.deardiary.coffee/events
How do I increase my odds of getting picked?
When we evaluate applications, we will be looking for a mix of ceramics, prints, jewelry, fabric arts (such as crocheted stuffed animals), candles, and other items that make great gifts.
Dear Diary Coffee is a stress free, family friendly environment. We are also very creative and a queer safe-space. We try to keep religion, politics, and cussing out of our space in order to preserve the good vibes.
What products sell best?
After years of reselling arts and crafts, we've noticed that the products that sell best are:
Not too expensive. Coffee shop customers are far, far more likely to buy a $20 print than a $500 original painting
Cute. Folks really seem drawn to the cute and whimsical. For example, Howdy Ceramics always does very well.
Useful. Customers who aren't necessarily art-obsessed are still drawn to things that have an obvious utility. For example, people know how to wear jewelry and sip out of mugs.
Is there a waiting list?
Artists who are selected for the 2027 season will be expected to stock their designated shelves the last two weeks of September. In this way, we'll get them off to a great start in October when holiday shopping kicks off. Artists who are selected, but do not bring their inventory in on time, will be replaced with other artists who didn't make the initial cut.
Also, if an artist rarely restocks during the year, we may find a replacement for them amongst the other folks who had applied.
What if I've applied in the past?
You do not have to fill out all the application fields again. Instead, click "Edit your response" and re-submit the form. This updates the timestamp on your application and bumps it to the top of our spreadsheet. This is how we know you're interested in participating again.
Apply before midnight August 15, 2026
