South Side Coffee Company captures Lompoc’s artistic spirit with gallery of local art vendors

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The divided storefront along the South H Street strip of West Ocean Avenue is meant to catch the eyes of more than just the observant stroller.

Designed by a man named Terry, one window is decorated with rainbow flags, cats, doves, flamingoes, and flowers: pink, white, orange, yellow, purple, and magenta. The other window display presents a scene so white, it looks like a blizzard. Beside a floating plastic bag cloud and a Kool-Aid Man-style plover bursting from the wall, signs reading “There’s nothing to do in Lompoc” surround a QR code that takes visitors to a website listing local activities and entertainment.

Welcome to Lompoc’s South Side Coffee Company, which serves more as a community art gallery than a typical cafe. 

Customers who walk through the glass door are greeted by a refreshing burst of creative air.

Below two Lulu’s Surfboards, next to a gumball machine of $1 stickers, rows of white shelves showcase tiny exhibits of local artists’ work. 

Starting from the end closest to the front door, Terri Cecchine’s Teresa the Tenacious children’s book collection sits in front of a mini rack of rose, mushroom, evil eye, pink butterfly, and yin and yang earrings. Above, a wicker basket of Marlena Mendoza’s ribbons and clip bows is situated beside CaliCreations805’s San Francisco Giants tumbler and PJ Masks sippy cup. On top of that, a shelf of Julia Esparza Campos Mendez’s succulent arrangements displays miniature flower pots in the shapes of a bumble bee, owl, pig, cowboy boots, and more.

“Everything is local,” owner/operator Halle Bedford said. “The food, the drinks, and the artists.”

Instead of seeking rent from the artists she hosts, Bedford said South Side’s gallery is simply a venue for them to shown off their work to the community. She said art purchases at South Side are on the honor system.

“I don’t take a percentage from any of the artists,” she said. “Nothing goes through my system.”

She said most of the artists she hosts are friends she’s made at the coffee shop or at local community gatherings.

Holly Dyer’s $2.50 mugs are positioned underneath Santa Luz Studio’s devil-themed “dump him” stickers, pairs of mushroom earrings, and black and white “no scrubs allowed” keychains. 

The Lompoc Company shows off its all-natural Dyre Dirt barbecue rub flavors—Sparkle, Dust, 42, Savor, Splash, Cluck, Baa, Oink, and Moo—atop vinegars including jalapeño lime, pear and cranberry, strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, fig, rosemary, orange, lemon, chili, and garlic. 

At the very top, the company’s rainbow array of buckets contains 100 percent pure, non-GMO, and neonicotinoid-free seeds: sweet peas from the San Julian Meadows, poppies from the Santa Rita Hills, cornflower from Vandenberg, and wildflowers from Jamala Ridge and the La Purisima Valley. 

You can also find Debra Watson’s CBD bath salts, Iris Sharp’s cartoonish portraits of women with accentuated features, Amalgam Wares’ artisan ceramic earrings, Cindy’s 805 postcards, and High Buddy Novelties’ rainbow cluster of Pokémon character trinkets. These 3D-printed figurines include a yellow Pikachu, an orange Charmander, a blue Squirtle, a green Bulbasaur, a red Eevee, and a purple Gengar. A dragon with pastel blue, pink, and white stripes lies to their right. 

Along with the white “There’s nothing to do in Lompoc” storefront display and sticker gumball machine, Manic Creative’s Jasmine Gonzalez also sells postcards. One with halos floating above teeth reads, “I was never wise.”

Inspired by Thomas Dambo’s troll exhibit in Solvang and his use of recycled materials, Gonzalez said she made her display out of cardboard and trash.

“Right now, I’m focused on large-scale, weird, public art,” Gonzalez said. “Seeing something on such a large scale made me think, ‘Why am I not making bigger art?’”

After moving to Lompoc in 2017, Gonzalez, who also runs the Pot Mama’s Social Club with Anna Look, started Manic Creative in 2020. 

“Because somebody misspoke years ago and called it an armpit instead of an elbow, there’s this love of self-hatred in Lompoc, rather than owning our narrative and embracing our quirks and absurdities that make us unique,” Gonzalez said, referring to a comment made by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) in 2016. “Lompoc is an underdog town, and the arts are an underdog scene. You have to immerse yourself in that scene to find it’s full of incredible artists. It’s empowering, the more you dedicate time and energy to being a part of your community.”

She said South Side’s community-led gallery is simply “artists supporting artists.”

“Everyone needs a good, safe third place, and South Side prides itself on that,” Gonzalez said. “It gives opportunities to artists who want to make weird installations in their windows. It’s a hub for small groups and local organizations to host meetings. 

“Halle and South Side have provided an iconic spot for local artists to sample the uniqueness Lompoc has to offer. There’s so much talent in this town,” she added. “I’m honored to know I can put my quirky self out there and be accepted. Everyone’s unique, and it’s cool to see how that’s embraced in this community.”

Reach Staff Writer Reece Coren at rcoren@santamariasun.com.

This article appears in Jul 3-10, 2025.