New London — When Juanita Austin was thinking about starting her own company, she wanted to create an organization that encouraged people to incorporate art into their daily lives.

She was telling her friends to get cultured, and one responded, "I'm cultured as (expletive)." That inspired the name Cultured AF, the "lifestyle brand and cultural hub" Austin founded in January, and Cultured Studios, a gallery, social lounge, shop and event space at 176 State St.

"We believe art should be accessible, approachable and unpretentious," Cultured AF's website reads. "We want to bring art into everyone's lives and build a community of life-long art appreciators."

Cultured Studios — next to Crocker House Apartments, where Hive Skate Shop operated before moving — held its soft opening in May.

Since then, it has held a comedy show, paint-and-sip night with comedy, CBD social, screening of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" in honor of the film's 30th anniversary, book signing with author Tylera McIntear, and meetup for queer women and nonbinary people of color.

There have been two game nights: one that involved teaching people to play Spades — "Earn your Black Card, finally," the event description said, with laughing emojis — and one with a hip-hop card game.

Austin has been pleased with how multigenerational attendance has been at the events.

Cultured Studios hosted a pop-up event featuring the Connecticut natural skin care line Lavish Experience on Thursday, and a performance from singer-songwriter Erycka Ortiz on Friday.

Adorning the walls are multiple works of art for sale that mostly are by Connecticut artists. There's also a kiosk with a rotating selection of books from The Key Bookstore, a company focused on curated literature about "Afrocentricity, Environmentalism, Spirituality, and Entrepreneurism."

People can also come just to hang out at Cultured Studios from 2 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, though Austin still is working on getting Wi-Fi up and running.

It's "not a bar, restaurant or café, where you feel like you have to buy something," she said.

Cultured Studios has administrative approval from the city for the gallery aspect of the business, and Austin's application for a special use permit is supposed to come before the Planning and Zoning Commission on Aug. 15. She also is hoping to be able to sell wine and beer.

Additionally, she has put in a grant application to Thames River Innovation Place, which is set to announce its selections for year-three projects in September.

A space to highlight artists of color

The community Austin, 27, grew up with in New London wasn't one that went to galleries, she said. They didn't feel welcome, or they felt like galleries were for people of a certain class or background.

"It's important for people of color to have a space where they feel safe and where they feel they can gather," Austin said.

But it took her a while to arrive at her vision for Cultured AF.

After graduating from New London High School in 2015, she entered the University of Connecticut as a marketing major. But then she changed to journalism, and then anthropology, before taking a leave of absence from school, during which time she did a photography internship in New York City.

She returned to UConn and graduated in the first class of students in the new digital media and design program. She stayed at the university for another year, working in the career development office of the School of Business.

Austin then got a job as a gallery assistant at Hygienic Art, and "that's kind of where I fell in love with the art world and curating," she said.

When she was leaving, she recommended Joseph Rivera to take over her job. Rivera is now gallery manager, and Austin is curator-in-residence at Hygienic Art.

Rivera, who has a piece hanging in Cultured Studios, described Austin not just as a curator of art but a "curator of people."

"She brings in such a sweet crowd," he said. "She really cultivates such a positive environment wherever she goes."

Through coordinating the Arm Your Voice poetry series at the Hygienic, Austin met poet, rapper and teacher Josh Brown, who has become a great help to her in coordinating events at Cultured Studios.

He said he wanted to help because it was "definitely something for more people that don't get to feature their art — such as black and brown people — show more of the African American community."

Brown, who goes by AnUrbanNerd as his artist name, has performed there on multiple occasions, and he held an album release party there last weekend.

He said of Cultured AF, with a laugh, "I'm really excited. I always brag about Juanita."

e.moser@theday.com