Surprise! The ARTWIFE team has been working hard behind the scenes to bring you Washington DC’s newest independent bookstore and wine bar, ARTWIFE Books & Wine!

But we still have a way to go before we can open, and you can help. Donate any amount to our GoFundMe campaign and, when we open, you’ll receive a 10% off coupon code for your first purchase, in-store or online.

The Background

The best part of the ARTWIFE endeavor thus far has been, without question, the warm and vibrant community of lit lovers it’s brought us into contact with. When we launched ARTWIFE Magazine in November 2022, we could have only dreamed of the connections with writers, readers, and artists around the country and the globe that have since become realities. Now it’s time to give those connections a concrete, offline, physical space in which they can further blossom.

In 2023, before ARTWIFE Magazine was even a year old, we packed up our lives in San Francisco and moved to DC. What a beautiful and unexpected gift! This town has embraced us, and our literary ambitions and enterprises, with incredible gusto. We can’t imagine a better place to gather and give back.

ARTWIFE Books & Wine: The Vision

ARTWIFE Books & Wine will be the only bookstore in the DMV area focused exclusively on stocking literary fiction and local authors. But that’s not all: we’ll also be the only bookstore in the DMV offering self-service, auto-measured wines by the glass from a wine wall! Come by, pick up a book, pour yourself a glass of red, white, or rosé, and stay a while why don’t ya?

Plus, you can expect a regular calendar of author events & book signings, book clubs, movie screenings, collage nights, solstice & equinox celebrations, community readings & open mics, dance parties, and so much more.

What You're Funding

One of the biggest expenses associated with opening a bookstore is—you guessed it—purchasing the initial inventory of books. While loans will allow us to secure and outfit a space, your donations to our GoFundMe will be pointed directly toward book buying.

Why Does It Matter?

This part you already know; in fact, you could probably recite it in your sleep: book bans, AI slop, corporate homogenization, political tyranny and staggering corruption, digitally-induced isolation…the list goes on. Still, the beauty of the human experience prevails, and we intend to use everything we’ve got to amplify and expand it. Small businesses create local jobs and, unlike corporations and chains, keep revenue circulating within the community. Sure beats lining the pockets of billionaires and wealth hoarders, doesn’t it?

Thank You

Please share our campaign with anyone you know who may be interested in supporting community spaces and the literary arts. Thank you so much for your support, in any and all ways you’re able to give it, and, as always, we thank you for engaging with the arts.