Artists Lofts Open in Valley Arts District
Orange-based HANDS rehabbed historic building into affordable live/work spaces for artists.
HANDS, Inc., a non-profit that works to revitalize neighborhoods in Orange and East Orange, hosted an opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony for the Firehouse Lofts on Tuesday. The lofts, at 580 Forest Street in Orange, are a restoration of a historic building in the Valley Arts District that once was a firehouse dating back to 1905, complete with horse-drawn fire wagons. The building now houses stylish artist lofts and the Firehouse Gallery, a cooperative gallery currently showing exhibits by artists Dan Fenelon and Jennifer Levine. "The Firehouse Lofts dedication highlighted the wonderful blend of HANDS’ stakeholders in the community, the arts, philanthropy, government, nonprofit and business," said Jessica Mathelier, …
In this Article:
Jerome Leslie Eben, AIA, PP
1:20 pm on Sunday, March 18, 2012
Hands has completed some nice work, especially the 'Arts Corridor' along the Orange/West Orange border. Though their work has been w/small scale redevelopment, the key word here is success and they have certainly had great deal of it! May be Hands should try their hand at something much larger and take over the downtown redevelopment here in West Orange. We need progress here. The current … more ›