Lindsay Skedgell Photos
Your Queer Plant Shop.
The outer edge of Pitkin Plaza on Sunday was lined with rare plants, bursts of pollinators, handmade leather goods, zines, and two birthday cakes of four different flavors. Nestled between vibrant murals, performers sang and folks from all around New Haven filled the brick park. One man next to a mural waved a cigar around in circles, dancing to the music Love n’ Co played. The band’s singer — Lovelind Richards — had various shades of blue painted across her eyes in thick bands. A leather worker from Beacon Craft Studio stitched a deep maroon leather piece with thick thread. It was East Rock House’s first birthday.
Apostolakis, LaRue, and Devereux.
East Rock House began a year ago in a backyard as a queer open mic. What organizers thought would be an event of 10 turned out to be one of 40, which over subsequent events grew and turned into 100. By the end of summer 2021, word had spread so much that the East Rock House collective shifted its attention to pop-ups in New Haven public spaces.
“All of us with our own interests were trying to tap into the spaces that we were trying to find in Connecticut and couldn’t successfully find. We just ended up creating [it] ourselves,” said Marianna Apostolakis, one of East Rock House’s organizers, in explaining how the collective came to be. With a shared intention and hope to create a safe space for Connecticut’s queer and trans community, Apostolakis, Luke Devereux, Evelyn Gray, Julian Russo, and Ashley LaRue of Qommunity began collaborating. Apostolakis dreamt of a supportive queer and trans community in New Haven like the one she’d experienced in Northampton, Mass., where she’d moved from. Devereux, who is a musician and plays under the name Pretty Princex, hoped to create a space in which queer and trans musicians could create freely and comfortably. Everyone’s different interests meshed to form and support the collective. After their first event in Devereux’s backyard, it was clear that many others were looking for and longing for the same kind of community that they were.
Now East Rock House collaborates with other collectives such as Qommunity, which focuses on “celebrating art, cultivating healing projects, and encouraging fellowship among and within the local queer community,” as stated on its Instagram page. LaRue started Qommunity in New Haven three years ago and placed emphasis on the importance of returning to a space. She mentioned that, a year ago, she didn’t know half the people attending East Rock House’s first birthday bash, whereas now they had become familiar and even friends. Coming back together was what created and built community. East Rock House also works with Places to Go, a queer collective that organizes and helps fund community events like Painting in the Park and Out Loud, which helped to make East Rock House’s first birthday bash a reality.
Connectic*nt.
Among the vendors was Your Queer Plant Shop, whose owners propagate rare tropical plants, sometimes re-creating their environmental needs of a humid 80 degrees in repurposed Ikea cabinets or their apartment’s hallway greenhouse. Stationed nearby was Connectic*nt, a zine that features the work of Connecticut-based artists, and Beacon Craft Studio, whose sustainable approach to leather making was intricate and detailed, often taking eight hours or more to make a single wallet. Qommunity vended T‑shirts and stickers and Pretty Princex vended handmade jewelry.
Beacon Craft Studio.
East Rock House is currently planning its next event, a trans music festival slated to take place in New Haven in November. As the sun dipped down, accompanied by DJ Reefa, everyone entered the brick plaza’s center, transforming the public park into a dance floor.
“It’s definitely something that’s alive,” Apostolakis said. “I feel like I’m reminded of that often.”
Follow East Rock House on Instagram for information about upcoming events.
