The Only Café, popular downtown Peterborough café and bar, unveiled their new sign on June 28.

This sign, like many of the previous signs, was created by a local artist. Musician and painter John Climenhage created the sign after being approached by the owner of The Only Café a number of months ago.

It was Climenhage’s connection to Peterborough’s arts community, and his connection to The Only itself after being a regular customer for years, that made him a good fit to create the new sign. And, after his initial design was presented, he was told the sign should be more of an intentional reflection of the inside.

Climenhage recalls being told they wanted “no scenes of the outside of Peterborough” and they wanted “scenes from inside of Peterborough.”

“There’s all of these historical photos and things inside,” said Climenhage. “So I tried to take images that would present some of the flavor of the place.”

After roughly four months of working on the design, Climenhage finally finished the piece.

Since moving to Peterborough in 2001, Climenhage has been involved in the arts community. He has played in multiple bands, and he used to have his paintings displayed in an art gallery on Hunter Street, right across from The Only Café.

Climenhage was not interested in this piece being “just a sign.”

“How far can I break up that series of letters in a painting so that you are not just reading a sign, you are actually in the space,” said Climenhage.

Two community members with a long history of going to The Only Café, Malcolm Byard and Sam Sayer, shared their feelings about the new sign and about Climenhage.

“To my knowledge, The Only Café has always been a hub for art and culture,” said Sayer. “It’s such a hub that I think John [Climenhage] captured that in the way he’s displayed the words ‘The Only Café.’”

All throughout the process of creating this sign, Climenhage was passionate about being aware of, and including, as many people’s personal perspectives and experiences in the art as he could. Something he believes is “important” when art is displayed in public.

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