Tired of seeing bland walls while studying at the local coffee shop or want a place to show off your hidden talents? Calling all artists: Starbucks wants to make the Marquette campus the newest place to view student art.

The on-campus store, 1610 W. Wisconsin Ave., is searching for inspired students to show off their skills as part of a monthly rotating display of local art.

"We have so much traffic in here, it's great exposure," said Julie Miller, a Starbucks employee and the first person to display her artwork. "Since we are on a campus, we're looking for students instead of regular people. We've had a really positive response from customers so far."

A 15-foot wall space is available to those interested and the coffee shop has supplies necessary to hang the pictures on a large wall on the east side of the establishment.

Store employees are interested in any kind of format of artwork and have displayed paintings and photography thus far. However, sculptures are not accepted due to lack of space.

Miller, a Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design alumna, said the Starbucks had contacted career services at MIAD, but was very interested in having Marquette students participate.

The traffic at the store is mostly Marquette students and staff, Miller said. How busy the store is depends largely on whether students are in or out of class, she said.

"I'd be surprised to see someone (in here) not from Marquette," she said.

Featured artists are welcome to leave their business cards for customers who are interested in contacting them to privately buy any of the pieces, Miller said. She also reported generating enough interest at another Starbucks that she sold a few pieces of her artwork.

Currently, MIAD alumna Jessica Eskelsen has seven pieces of her photography on display at the store.

"I was looking for a place to get my work out and I thought that the Marquette campus would be a good place for it," Eskelsen said. "I thought the stuff that I had was appropriate for the setting."

Eskelsen said she was looking for a place with more visual access and that displaying her work at the store for the past two months had been a good experience.

"The employees are really nice and they gave really good feedback," Eskelsen said. "It's a cool place to have it. Just to have my work up is better than having it sit in the basement."

Eskelsen encouraged students to get their art on display.

"It's a good place with good visibility," she said. "We need more art in Milwaukee."

Joe Poeschl, a Marquette sophomore advertising major and studio art minor, said that he thought putting artwork on display at Starbucks was a good idea.

"I think Starbucks provides a great atmosphere that can help one appreciate art," Poeschl said. "As an art enthusiast, I would be interested in both participating and viewing something like this."