1 week Ago
Casey K Creations welcomed the community with free painting and pizza to celebrate the opening of Markie’s Place, a sensory room designed to stimulate children and people with disabilities. Owner Casey Kurutz described the room as having a variety of textures, lights, bedding and educational toys that help develop the senses and learn to interact with the environment. Kurutz was inspired by her uncle Mark Boyd, or “Markie,” who had an autism spectrum disorder and lived with her family until he passed in November 2021.
She said Markie came to the studio with her every day, greeted each guest at the door and resonated joy. “It’s not all about painting,” Kurutz said. “It’s about how you make people feel when they come into the space, and that’s what’s most important.
” Kurutz and Donna Davis, the corporate director of operations for the New Castle School of Trades, had been planning the operation since April in what started as a simple bathroom renovation. Davis started attending the studio regularly after her husband passed away Oct. 28, 2021, and became a regular painter.
She said Kurutz was planning a members’ weekend at the studio, and several members wanted to spruce up the bathroom in anticipation. Kurutz had the dream to turn the back storage area of her shop into a sensory room and event space, and the partnership continued from the bathroom. “We were so excited about (the bathroom,) we were like, ‘Yeah, we can do this,’” Davis said.
Davis said the New Castle School of Trades donated hundreds of hours to transform the storage space and create the sensory room. She said the building trades insulated the space, installed drywall and painted, while the welding department cut wood and welded frames and the electrical department installed lights and wired the rooms. The school also bought three TVs for the space.
Some students who worked on it also came to see the final product. “There’s just so many people that stepped up the the plate,” Davis said. She said other companies like Lowes, Valspar and Sherwin Williams also helped.
Valspar donated 10 gallons of paint, and Lowes matched it. Story continues below video The studio has walk-in hours during the week where the sensory room can be used if it’s not reserved, and the back room can be reserved for special occasions. Kurutz felt the back room would be a more effective space to hold classes like for Cray Youth Services students who come in weekly.
She said administrators notice the joy and laughter their students feel. “Their administrators say they’ve never seen them how they are here, ever,” she said. “They’re totally different people when they’re in this space.
I just wish I could carry it on into their homes.” Kurutz also plans to use the space for the student’s free veterans program she started last year that welcomes veterans for painting, a hot meal and fellowship. The next one is on Veterans Day on Nov.
11. Kurutz said event spaces filled within 36 hours of announcing last year’s. The Lawrence County Comfort Canines also attend every free event at the studio, Kurutz said.
The programs will fall under the umbrella of Casey K Marks the Spot, a nonprofit that offers free and low-cost art classes to children, adults with disabilities and veterans. Kurutz is seeking grants to further establish the nonprofit. Aside from the inspiration Kurutz found in her uncle, she remembers one of her first classes with a group from Autism Warriors.
She saw them come in stressed about the new environment, but once they started painting, a calmness fell over the room. “I’ve seen how people just decompress,” Kurutz said. “I couldn’t believe what came over them.
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