The Arts Café Mystic moves to Stonington

STONINGTON — As it celebrates its 28th year as one of the region's premiere literary venues, The Arts Café Mystic will make a monumental move from Mystic to Stonington.

"With great enthusiasm, The Arts Café Mystic announces its relocation to La Grua Center, in the heart of the Stonington Borough," the café's artistic director, Lisa Starr, announced in a statement recently. "La Grua Center has been evolving into one of the most distinguished and respected arts centers in New England ... their mission statement says it so simply and aligns with ours so well: To engage community through arts and culture."

Home to the renowned Music Matters series, "La Grua Center is an art gallery, a performance center and a haven for artists and art lovers in all mediums," Starr said.

Since first opening its doors in 1995, the café has enjoyed "a wonderful partnership with the Mystic Museum of Art and will remain forever grateful for their long-term support and hospitality," Starr continued. "The decision to transition has a lot to do with looking forward, and in particular, making our series more amenable to our supporters."

"Parking has become increasingly difficult at our events, compounded by a new parking system and by the wonderfully thriving downtown Mystic scene," she explained. "Just a few weeks ago, Conde Nast Traveler named Mystic one of the top 10 cities/towns in the country for eclectic and authentic dining opportunities. So that busy little seaport town is about to get busier.

"La Grua Center is filled with light, artwork, and the echoes of all the beautiful music ever played there," she went on. "Furthermore, it is a smaller, more intimate space which will no doubt enhance our events for both our featured artists and our audience; it even has a balcony for folks who like to tiptoe in and out. And it has free, ample, and easily amenable parking!

“We are just so pleased to have this opportunity to shift The Arts Café Mystic to La Grua Center in Stonington," she added. "For several years we have been looking at increasingly difficult logistical issues operating from downtown Mystic on Friday evenings. La Grua Center offers everything we could possibly hope for to enhance the programs we have been providing for 28 years. We so very much looking forward to seeing you all there when we open our season on Friday, March 24, with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Schultz."

"La Grua Center is excited to include the Arts Café Mystic as one of its regional partners," said La Grua Center Executive Director Dan Brandl. "At La Grua Center, we are dedicated to engaging community through arts and culture, and this partnership allows us to take that mission to the next level. We are thrilled to host The Arts Café Mystic events in our space, bringing together creativity and community to cultivate a vibrant and inclusive environment for the arts.”

— Nancy Burns-Fusaro