Cleaning doorknobs and asking for donations is one of the many jobs that Christiane Cuticchio does with a lot of passion.

She will continue to do so, because in October the extension for the Atelier Goldstein will begin, for which FAZ readers and regional companies have donated a total of more than 200,000 euros this year.

However, doubling the studio space is said to cost one million euros, and 20 artists with cognitive disabilities work there.

"We save on equipment wherever we can, but unfortunately we can't do without an elevator, otherwise the building isn't handicapped accessible," says the founding director.

She hopes that the construction costs will not explode by then.

Aktion Mensch and various foundations have also already pledged contributions.

However, funding is not yet secured.

"It's still wonderful that so many people have donated to us."

Marie Lisa Kehler

Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

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With the extension to the listed depot of the old mineral oil factory in Sachsenhausen's Hasenpfad, an industrial monument from the 19th century and a place for culture and art, the studio team hopes to be able to offer workshops for school classes, teachers and an interested public in the future.

So far, the studio has had to be stopped on these days due to a lack of space.

Blossoming in the studio

The total area is to be doubled to around 400 square meters.

According to the plan, things will start in autumn, because then the entire factory, which belongs to the Peter Paul and Emmy Wagner-Heinz Foundation and on whose premises the depot is located, will be renovated.

"If we invest there, we no longer pay rent, so it pays for itself and is a great investment in our future," says Cuticchio.

The narrow and cozy studio, where everyone meets at lunchtime to eat together in the central kitchen, is also the spiritual home for most of the people who pursue their art there.

We presented some of them last autumn and winter: Juewen Zhang, who despite his autism was the first artist to make it to the Offenbach University of Design, Julia Krause-Harder, whose dinosaur sculptures inspire many people, or Franz von Saalfeld with his surreal, sharp view of supposed idylls.

Each and every one of them literally thrives in the studio, also through the sometimes international recognition and exhibition of their own works of art as well as their own teaching activities.

You can easily convince yourself of that.

A 13-year-old boy with Down syndrome from Ukraine also arrived here last week.

Alix Puhl, who has long supported the studio financially and morally through her foundation, had organized an apartment for him and his mother, because he suffers from a heart defect and cannot eat any food in the mass accommodation due to food intolerance.

His father is a painter in Ukraine, and his grandfather is also a well-known painter.

He is also talented, say the employees of the studio.

In the new apartment, he only reacted to the painting supplies that were available for him there.

He still paints over a lot in black.