Ysanne Marshall performing on the stage at the Outlet for the Arts on June 21, 2021 for Make Music Day. Photo by Maddie Stenson.

The building’s construction had begun in 1888, but had stalled after a rainstorm washed away the freshly-laid cement of the foundation. 

Seeing this, the two carpenters offered to do two week’s work on the building in exchange for a single week’s wages, and the building was completed and dedicated by June of that year. 

Now, the Outlet for the Arts, a music venue and recording studio, occupies the former Advent Christian Church building at 59 Barber Street. According to Chaz DeVito, the founder and proprietor, this spirit of community engagement is exactly what the Torrington area needs today. 

DeVito came from a musical family, and has been making music himself since his childhood in Windsor, CT. “The name ‘outlet’ started because we didn't have a lot of outlets growing up, so you really had to create one,” DeVito says, explaining his interest in creating an arts center in northwest Connecticut. 

After graduating with a degree in audio production from the SAE Institute in New York and working first as an intern at Daddy’s House Recording Studio, then as an employee at the studios Platinum Sound and Dubway, DeVito returned to Connecticut. He began working with some Connecticut venues, including Foxwoods Casino and the Warner Theatre in Torrington. Soon after, he opened his first studio in Windsor, which he named “The Outlet.” After several years at that location, DeVito purchased the former Advent Christian Church building at 59 Barber Street and re-named his business “The Outlet for the Arts.” 

Much like the church that the building originally housed, the Outlet for the Arts has been off to a rocky start. Specifically, it first tried to open its doors in July 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing.

DeVito acknowledges the difficulty that this timing has caused him, but views the situation as a whole positively. In addition to supporting outdoor events like the 2021 Make Music Day and the Battle of the Bands, DeVito has also begun offering a range of services to help artists record and produce their music, including classes.  As pandemic restrictions have lifted, the Outlet for the Arts has also begun offering open mic nights and live music. “It’s been a beautiful time, too,” DeVito says. “If the pandemic didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have been able to make a lot of this stuff happen.”

In today’s world, artists are often expected not only to create art, but also to act as entrepreneurs, innovators, and community leaders [1]. DeVito, as an artist and as a business owner emphasizes that just as much as artists must support their communities, communities must support and welcome local arts. DeVito envisions the Outlet for the Arts as a space for people to express themselves and form lasting relationships. "The best way for the community to support this vision," he says, "is to put this space to use by coming to events, spreading the word, and encouraging the appreciation of live music in Torrington."

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More information on The Outlet for the Arts can be found on their website here: https://theoutletforthearts.com/ 

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Sources 

[1] “Public Perceptions of Artists in Communities: A Sign of Changing Times” by Jennifer Novak-Leonard and Rachel Skaggs. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.34053/artivate.6.2.005

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