nothin Marrakech Opens East Street Arts | New Haven Independent

Marrakech Opens East Street Arts

Brian Slattery Photo

Customers browse in the storefront at East Street Arts.

The unseasonable cold and threat of rain couldn’t keep teachers, administrators, students, and supporters away from celebrating the grand opening of East Street Arts and the 45th anniversary of Marrakech, the statewide nonprofit of which East Street Arts is a part.

East Street Arts is the result of a year-long effort that involved building renovations and class expansions. Marrakech, founded in 1971, helps persons with disabilities find jobs, housing, and other services they need, with self-sufficiency as a goal. For 30 years, the building at 597 East St. has been the home of the Association of Artisans to Cane — a social enterprise of Marrakech — where people have learned how to repair chair seats under the guidance of a master caner.

The chair caning operation occupied half the building. Over the past year, the program took over the rest of the property, renovated it to create studios and a storefront, and began offering classes in weaving, jewelry making, and art. Friday saw the program reap the rewards of their work, as a crowd gathered to witness the cutting of the ribbon, explore the studios inside, and buy many of the products already for sale, ranging from chairs and textiles to jewelry and soap.

LaTorra.

Today feels like a long time coming to a lot of people,” said Heather LaTorra, Marrakech’s CEO. She described the long process of creating East Street Arts, from gathering the funds from city and state sources as well as family foundations to renovating the building to setting up classes. We put all the pieces together to make things work,” she said.


Bartlett.

Jason Bartlett, the city’s youth services director, agreed. It really shows what New Haven can be when we work together,” he said.

Kristina Newman Scott, the head of cultural programs at the state-level Department of Economic and Community Development, arrived from Hartford just in time for the ribbon cutting. This is the kind of place and space that should happen in every town in Connecticut,” she said.

The goal is for adults with disabilities to be able to make products and really make some money,” said Mary Schiffer, one of the artists who teaches at East Street Arts, reinforcing Marrakech’s mission of helping people with disabilities move toward self-sufficiency. But for Schiffer, there was a lot of joy in the work, too. The glee, when someone’s making something, I get that wowwwwwww!” she said. You don’t get that everywhere.”

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