East End Arts finds temporary home next to Riverhead Town Hall

The East End Arts and Humanities Council has a new (temporary) home.

The Riverhead-based nonprofit has completed its move into 206 Griffing Avenue, the town-owned building on the corner of West Second Street, adjacent to Riverhead Town Hall. East End Arts relocated there from its town-owned campus of historic buildings on East Main Street, which will be reconfigured as a part of a flood mitigation project and the development of the town square. 

The Andy Tarshis Fine Art gallery, located in one of two historic homes on East Main Street, will continue to host art exhibits until the early spring, Executive Director Wendy Weiss said. 

“It’s amazing. I think it’s a really nice space, specifically for our school programming and operations,” Weiss said of the building. The organization provides classes and workshops on arts and music. 

“It provides more accessible options than we had in the other spaces, which is really exciting, because we’ll be able to offer that much more to a more [diverse range] of people of different needs,” she added.

Previously, the layout of the East End Arts campus limited access for people with mobility issues, Weiss said. The Griffing Avenue building now offers an art studio, printmaking studio, music lesson rehearsal rooms, and a library — all located on the first floor and fully wheelchair-accessible. The second floor houses a podcast studio and additional rehearsal rooms.

“We’re going to be doing a lot more programming in our Arts for All programs, which has to do with different programming that suits the needs of varying levels of disabilities and marginalized groups,” Weiss said.

In total, there are seven rehearsal rooms in the building, including one large enough to host recitals. The building also hosts all the organization’s office space.

“I think that actually having most of our operations now in one building is huge,” Weiss said. “I think that will be something that will be interesting to get used to, but it just makes us feel that much more connected than we ever have.”

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday celebrating the grand opening, Weiss thanked East End Arts’ staff and board, and town officials, for all their efforts in relocating the organization. 

“We all can agree that we’ve got the same collective goal, and that the culture and arts in the Town of Riverhead is so important,” Weiss said.

Supervisor Tim Hubbard presented Weiss and East End Arts with a certificate of recognition. 

“Congratulations to East End Arts on the grand opening of your temporary facility at 206 Griffing Avenue — the annex building, as we refer to it — adjacent to Riverhead Town Hall,” Hubbard said. “We’re pleased the annex proved a suitable space for programs, classes, courses and camps, as your programming affords the community invaluable access to music and the arts.”

“We wish you great success in continuing to support, advocate and inspire our community of artists and performers,” he added.

Hubbard praised Weiss for her leadership of the organization. Weiss became East End Arts’ executive director last year after being on its board of directors for several years. 

“It’s just grown exponentially since you took over, so we thank you for that,” Hubbard said.

Council Member Ken Rothwell said the celebration marks another step towards the creation of the town square, the centerpiece of Riverhead’s downtown revitalization strategy. Part of the larger town square project will include an amphitheater, to be built on part of the East End Arts campus. Part of the campus is also being transfered to the town’s master developer, J. Petrocelli, for the company’s boutique hotel project.

Council Member Bob Kern praised the quality of the organization’s artists. “People don’t realize some of these people are world renowned. They’re hanging in major galleries all over the country,” he said.

The brick building was previously used as offices for Suffolk County National Bank, which was for years headquartered on the property before being acquired by a regional bank. In 2022, the town purchased the property — which also includes the current Town Hall and the M&T Bank branch building — from Peconic Bay Medical Center. The Griffing Avenue building had not been used by the town since the purchase.

East End Arts began moving into the building about a month ago and, as with the East Main Street campus, is hosted rent-free. The town covered the organization’s moving expenses with a grant.