The Hygienic is its own “site specific” work of art. As you walk along the sidewalk to the 1844 building on Bank and Golden streets in the heart of downtown New London, you’re hugged by rich architecture, art and history. You become a participant in a sort of dialogue that moves through the unique, peculiar and sometimes agitational vibe the space possesses.

The gates to the Hygienic’s outdoor plaza lead you in and your eyes continue up to the massive mural of caryatids. The neoclassical building, a structure that took upwards of 200 years to evolve to its current state, has held on to the richness of the people who frequented it.

Historically, the 24-hour Hygienic Restaurant in the former Hygienic Delicatessen was the hub in the 1960s for local artists, sailors and street people. Some called it “seedy.” You can sense the townies sitting around the tables and the handful of regulars at the counters, which still hold the impressions of elbows on Formica. Upstairs, there were rooms for rent.

President Roosevelt and Al Capone were both said to have dined at the Hygienic Restaurant, and the painter Barkley Hendricks was rumored to have frequented it with his camera in tow, after capturing some of his most beautiful work while teaching at Connecticut College. (The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is organizing the exhibition, Barkley L. Hendricks, in New London, opening in May. Look for a story on Hendricks and the Lyman Allyn exhibit in an upcoming issue of TDM.)

The tradition of rented rooms at Hygienic continues to this day as artists—instead of sailors and night workers—now occupy the living spaces above the restaurant.

“The intention is to provide affordable working studio spaces for artists to continue to create without the challenges gentrification has brought to rental spaces downtown,” said Hygienic President Vincent Scarano.

In the early 1980s, against the vista of decaying buildings that were left abandoned on Bank Street and destined to be torn down, petitions and protests brought a lot of attention to the block with the passionate desire to save these historic landmarks.

Artists and community members in the 1990s, working with developers committed to this preservation, learned the skills of organizing, lobbying, financing and building management. Together with grant awards, neighborhood fundraising efforts and sponsorships from the arts community, they were able to incorporate as the nonprofit Hygienic Arts. Inc., and what was a vision became an actuality—a world-class space with old-world charm supporting the newest, most “now” artists in the region.

An artist and photographer, Scarano has been heading up the refinement of this space since its inception. Under his leadership, the Hygienic Artist Collective has renovated the rooms into six unique one-bedroom working studios that house artist members. Two of the studios are lofted, bringing in a southern exposure that affords the perfect view of the mouth of the Thames River just across the street.

“This has been a really great opportunity to build my craft,” says DameFK, a performance artist and currently an artist-in-residence. “The encouragement and support between all of us artists-in-residence has been invaluable.”

Over the decades, the artists have made these spaces their own. Hygienic reclaimed a derelict lot behind the building on Golden Street, turning the dark corner into the Garden of Hygienia, a sculpture garden and public art space, in the early 2000s. It has since been expanded to include an outdoor theater and performance space.

Past artists-in-residence include Jenn Collins, who arrived as a graduate from Connecticut College. She designed and installed all of the Moroccan reliefs in the restoration of the Garde Arts Center, housed in a reclaimed movie palace in New London. She now has her studio in San Francisco.

Tate Pray, a Mystic emerging artist, learned to be a professional artist at the Hygienic and enrolled in the Lyme Academy. After graduating, Pray became a successful fine artist and now lives in North Carolina.

Navada Swan is a jewelry and Native American beadwork artist. She founded the Empress Art Gallery in New London while in residence. She now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and leads the Onyxswan Gallery featuring her work.

Today, the artists residing at the Hygienic are the emerging visionaries in a different world. Under the guidance of Hygienic Director Sara Tyler-Connolly and her team, these artists aspire to carry the tradition of the residents that came before them.

“We provide opportunities such as solo and group art shows, performances, connecting artists with internships and grant opportunities,” said Tyler-Connolly. “As director, I try to be available as a resource, sounding board and advocate for the artists at the Hygienic. I love being part of a supportive artistic community.”

For decades, The Hygienic has held a community exhibition fashioned after the Salon des Indépendants, a Paris citizens art movement in the late 19th century that introduced Impressionism to the world.

“The whole idea was that we wanted to make a place that was available for the common man,” Scarano told The Day in 2018 of the exhibit’s origins. “The idea was, if you put fine art in an environment where people see it every day, people would appreciate it. So we picked the Hygienic Restaurant as the place where the common man would come in. There was a reason why we didn’t want to pick a gallery. It was an art education for the masses. It was all about the military, industrial, blue-collar people that live in this area. It was for them to experience art, too.”

The Hygienic doesn’t curate the show. In salon style, the show is designed to feature one self-selected piece by anyone brave enough to hang their work on the walls. The work is whimsical, provocative, evocative, raw, inspired and most importantly, varied—and it’s all for sale.

The Hygienic is a coterie that turned into a collective symbol of preservation. Classic meets contemporary—from the antique coffee brewers to the exploratory tableaus, to Scarano, himself, moving effortlessly between the two and continuing to rouse support for the idea that the future of art is at the intersection of progressive ideas and the formal spaces that contain them.

Kerry Kincy is an artist and a core faculty member with New Haven Ballet who leads the Shared Abilities Program. She is founder and director of Free Center Middletown, a recipient of a Connecticut Arts Hero Award by the Connecticut Office of the Arts, and a community fellow in the Wesleyan University Embodying Anti-Racism initiative.