The Studio at St. Mary's: A Space To Create

Erin Phillips

The building of the Studio at St. Mary's was constructed in the late 19th century and has gone through many changes over the years. (Clockwise from top left): Sister Val Luckey speaks about the history of the building at the rear entrance; Olive the dog chills out on the restored hardwood floors in the Kids Cafe; St. Mary's originally had a third floor that was lost in a fire at some point in the building's history; a room full of donations is available to attendees of the Kids Cafe.

The story of the Studio at St. Mary's, an intentional creative arts space on Erie's east side, began a very long time ago with a handful of Catholic monks and nuns.

In Erie's very early days, around 1830, St. Mary's was established as a church to serve the growing German population. About 25 years later, five Benedictine sisters were tasked by the bishop to create a parish school in Erie — thus, St. Mary's became the city's very first parochial school. Then, a few more years later in 1866, three monks from Latrobe came to Erie and oversaw the construction of the building that is still known as St. Mary's today, at 310 E. 10th St.

St. Mary's remained in Erie for over a century as an educational facility. But even when the school closed in 1994, the Benedictine sisters who were the stewards of the organization for all of its 138 years of existence couldn't just throw in the towel and abandon the children and the neighbors in the area. Enter Emmaus Ministries, a Benedictine project born in 1974 primarily as a feeding ministry. Two key Benedictine sisters, working through Emmaus, wanted to foster an intentional creative space; a writer and artist studio space, as well as a host for their programs that feed and benefit the women and children of the area through the Listening Hearts and Kids Cafe programs. This plan is how the Studio at St. Mary's was born.

It was an unseasonably warm spring day when I met up with Sister Val Luckey, the director of Emmaus Ministries, along with Amy VanScoter, an employee of Emmaus, who is also a yoga teacher and studio occupant at the Studio at St. Mary's (in addition to being a contributing writer to this publication). Together they led me on a tour through the incredible building that exists as a time capsule of parochial education in Erie, while also serving as a shining example of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, creative community, collaboration, and artistic vision.

The Kids Cafe

Before we enter the building, we run into the manager of the Kids Cafe, Jane Wagner and her dog Olive, in the parking lot. They walk inside with us as we descend into the basement floor of the St. Mary's building. I'm immediately struck by the preservation of the building — it still very much retains the look, feel, and vibe of an old school with pristine wood floors, transoms over the heavy wooden doors, slate blackboards, chair rails, and, in the kitchen, a full floor-to-ceiling bank of solid wood antique cabinetry. The space is one long, wide hallway, with classrooms branching off that are all used in service to the neighborhood children who participate in the program — to get a nutritious meal after school, receive help with their schoolwork, and engage in creative activities within the cafe space and throughout the rest of the building. Wagner explains, "We currently have about 60 kids registered for the after school program. They walk here from their schools — most come from Pfeiffer Burleigh, some all the way from East Middle School, R. Benjamin Wiley, the Eagles Nest, and a few are homeschooled."

The Kids Cafe also houses a space for some of the donations that Emmaus receives — clothing, shoes, books, toys, supplies, and personal care items to meet any need the participating children may have. Wagner explains, "These clothes are for any kids who need them, and once a month, the kids can go through and take any personal care items they might need (shampoo, deodorant, feminine products, etc.). Or if someone comes in, for example, with their shoes falling apart, we can replace them."

The Kids Cafe was the execution of the vision of Sister Gus, brought to life by Emmaus in 2000. It was the first Emmaus occupant of the building when Sarah Reed Children's Center programs occupied the upper floors. Sarah Reed moved out of the building in 2014 and according to Emmaus, "With the Kids Cafe located on the bottom floor … many vacant classrooms on the upper floors were ready to be put to use. The Studio at St. Mary's: Space to Create launched in 2015. Local artists rented classrooms-turned-art studios and the unused rooms quickly became a colorful, creative, and inspiring space. A variety of artistic areas are represented by those using the space: painting, textiles, writing, video production, wood turning, yoga, and more."

Z3 Concepts Studio

As we exit the Kids Cafe and head upstairs to the first floor studio spaces, Sister Val notes, "We have a wide range of talents and types in the building." And as we ascend to the second floor, we meet the first of those talents: Stan Zlotkowski and his Z3 Concepts Studio.

Zlotkowski takes up a decent footprint on the first and second floors including a light-filled, corner recording and art studio, as well as a connected room housing all of his audio recording equipment. Z3 is "a full-service video production company dedicated to producing quality multimedia for today's sales, training, and marketing needs." And while Zlotkowski's day job is videography (and he is kept constantly busy with that business), he is also a drummer and runs a recording studio out of his space in St. Mary's. He's also brought a number of musicians to Erie over the years to hold workshops and tutorials in the studio. Zlotkowski reflects, "I've been here for eight years, the people who come in and out are great. It's been fun here. This is a great building."

Erie Arts and Culture

New to the building are the offices for Erie Arts and Culture (EAC). The nonprofit is "committed to improving the lives of our region's residents … by leveraging the power of the arts and humanities to address the vital needs and interests of Erie and Northwestern Pennsylvania," and within the Studio at St. Mary's, they occupy the space that was once the principal's office.

Anne O'Dell, director of EAC, comments, "St. Mary's offers very affordable studios/office space and this is invaluable to small creative businesses and artists who need to keep their overhead low so they can grow and maintain a profitable business. St. Mary's has a community feel with common spaces that we all help take care of. It's important that people can feel like they're part of a community inside of the building, as well as in the neighborhood where the building is."

Listening Hearts / The Writing Studio

The space that EAC currently occupies in the building was once the hub of the Listening Hearts Program which was envisioned, created, and facilitated by Sister Mary Lou, who recently passed away in January of 2023 and was instrumental in the vision for the Studio at St. Mary's, in particular the Listening Hearts Program. The Listening Hearts space then moved to a corner studio and has evolved to include a number of creative programs.

Listening Hearts is a therapeutic and support space that is "specially designed for women experiencing poverty, homelessness, who are in recovery, or post-incarceration." While most of these group sessions now take place at the monastery at Mount St. Benedict (an accommodation made due to mobility issues with one of the sisters), the space at St. Mary's is still reserved for closer neighbors and needs, while also sharing the room's use with a number of other organizations and activities. Sister Val shares, "We use this studio for Emmaus meetings, Kate Gordon runs a regular writing studio here, (Erie Karma Thegsum Choling Tibetan) Buddhists meet here once a month for meditation — it's an eclectic space."

Individual and Shared Artist Studio Space

Additional studios are occupied throughout the building by individual artists and are often opened up to the public for classes or select Gallery Nights. Visual artist Kris Risto and fiber artist Deb Sementelli-Hoenes share a studio space in which they create their own art while also hosting Erie Open Figure Sessions, which is a weekly, non-instructional, group-art study session with a live model. Risto says of the studio, "I love the space for so many reasons, but the primary reason is that it's an old classroom. It's the ideal location for Erie Open Figure Session to take place. It's good-old, old-fashioned life observation in an academic setting."

Additional individual artist studios include the office and illustration studio space of Bryan Toy (a regular contributor to this publication), as well as painter, muralist, and costume designer Barb Crone, who also occupies a corner studio. Presque Isle Wood Turners meet at least once a month in a shared studio space. And LXB Design Studio, an advertising design partnership, also houses their office within the building.

As we ascend past Stan Zlotkowski's sprouting seed trays in the greenhouse-like stairwell up to the second floor, Sister Val points out that the dramatic arched windows providing such beneficial light were recently replaced through a grant from Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) and notes that there was no way they would have been able to afford that work had it not been for that grant. She mentions that while some income for Emmaus Ministries comes from studio rents, the bulk of the income to fund their programs and building maintenance (Emmaus also owns the Neighborhood Art House and Soup Kitchen buildings) comes from their quarterly newsletter and Erie Gives donations.

Weaving and Spinning Studio

As we enter the second floor of the building, we are greeted by the sound of oldies hits setting the soundtrack of the bustling studio of Barbara J. Hauck. Hauck is a professional weaver and her bright corner studio is home to a dozen large-scale looms for weaving everything from a beginner rag rug to an advanced silk patterned scarf or a four-paneled heirloom bedspread (both of which I had the pleasure to watch mid-creation during my visit). Hauck holds regular classes in her studio and mentions, "I've been open since 2017 and haven't been without students, and I've never advertised. My students always come back."

Anyone who is interested in learning to weave (either functional pieces, art pieces, or both) are able to sign up for a class in Hauck's studio. She also has open studio hours where anyone who needs to use a loom for a project they're working on can; after all, a loom is usually not something the average person has space for in their own home. Hauck provides the necessary equipment, materials, and expert guidance for a small fee. She reflects, "My studio is all about peacefulness, embracing the process, and not being hard on yourself when you make a mistake." If you're interested in taking a weaving class, you can email Hauck at barb.hauck@gmail.com.

Infinite Love Yoga Studio

Our final stop on the tour is one Amy VanScoter has been looking forward to: her very own yoga studio on the third floor, with an unobstructed western view of the sky flowing in from all of the windows that fully surround two walls of the room. The interior walls are lined with the same vintage chalkboards and wall-to-wall hardwood floors as all the other studios, but her floor is totally open, begging for visitors to spread out their mats and get into their practice.

For years, this space has existed as a yoga studio and VanScoter taught here when it was known as Schoolhouse Yoga. When the owner of that business, Terry Seth, decided to retire, she offered the studio to the teachers who had worked in her space and VanScoter jumped at the opportunity. "I decided I would keep it going mainly so I could have my own space to practice and not have to constantly worry about where to teach," Van Scoter reflects. She is also thrilled to be a part of the safe, collaborative, community space at St. Mary's.

She mentions, "One thing that's interesting is how we all tend to work together in the building. I am now teaching a class to the kids from the Kids Cafe weekly, Studio Z helps Emmaus and everyone in the building with media needs — there's lots of collaboration. There are weavers, wood turners, the writing studio, open figure sessions. It's a quiet, peaceful, well-kept building."

If you're interested in attending a class at Infinite Love, more information is available at infinitelove.yoga.

The building itself has seen many changes in its 150+ years of existence, both in the physical sense and the self-identifying sense. There was once an upper floor to the building that housed a gymnasium which was lost to a fire at some point throughout its history. There was also a tunnel that connected the basement of the school to the auditorium of neighboring St. Ben's school that has since been walled off. But more so than the architectural changes, St. Mary's has been constantly evolving its place in our city. From a beginning based purely in religious-based education, it has grown to embrace and prioritize the creative diversity and the ever-expanding needs of the neighborhood.

One can't help but think that this kind of growth and positive presence is exactly what the Emmaus sisters who started the Studio at St. Mary's had in mind. Sister Mary Miller, who was the director of Emmaus up until her death last May said of the Studio, "To have such a mixture of creative artists and innovative programs makes it an exhilarating workplace and, more importantly, a vehicle to bring stability, imagination, creativity, spirituality, and beauty to a downtown neighborhood."

To learn more about the artists, businesses, and programs housed within the Studio at St. Mary's visit: studioatstmarys.com

Erin Phillips, who is strongly considering picking up weaving as another in an unmanageably long list of personal hobbies, can be reached at erin@eriereader.com