Bookforge

Today I’m introducing the Erie Local 814 Creative Workers Union patch.
This mark is for the artists, makers, writers, performers, designers, bookbinders, musicians, teachers, builders, repairers, small creative businesses, and cultural troublemakers who believe Erie needs more than scattered talent working alone in separate rooms.

It needs a place.
It needs a signal.
It needs a little organized creative voltage.

Erie Labor Temple is being built from an old labor building into modern creative infrastructure: studios, workshops, soft socials, gallery space, book arts, media art, public programs, civic conversations, and room for people who still believe making things matters.

The patch says what we’re here to do:
We make. We build. We organize creative labor.

Erie Local 814 is not about pretending artists are separate from workers. It is about naming the truth: creative work is work. Cultural labor is labor. Repair is labor. Teaching is labor. Showing up is labor.
And Erie needs more people willing to show up.

Come into the building. Join the work. Help us keep the power on.

Art Works Here.

https://www.erielabortemple.com

Something was hidden above the ceiling inside Erie Labor Temple.

This morning, FOUND IN BUILDING // ENTRY NO. 001 officially launched on Patreon.

What started as investigating a water leak above a drop ceiling turned into the discovery of buried union organizing cards tied directly to the original labor history of 1701 State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Not nostalgia. Not staged history. Physical evidence.

FOUND IN BUILDING is a new ongoing archival documentary series from Erie Labor Temple and PH’KAKI Creative Works exploring the forgotten objects, hidden archives, industrial remnants, and material memory buried inside this historic building.

The archive is now open.

Watch the first entry now on Patreon.

Supporters directly help fund:
future FOUND IN BUILDING episodes
historical preservation/documentation
free Soft Social community art & cultural events
workshops, programming, and public creative infrastructure at ELT
The building remembers.

Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/found-in-entry-158246401

FOUND IN BUILDING // ENTRY NO. 001 | Erie Labor Temple: The Signal Room FOUND IN BUILDING // ENTRY NO. 001 by Erie Labor Temple: The Signal Room on Patreon. Join Erie Labor Temple: The Signal Room's community for exclusive content and updates.

Rendering drop: Studio #105

Like Studio #102, this is best used as an add-on room rather than a standalone lease. Because it does not have direct hall access, it works best as an extension of Studios #103, #107, or #109: ideal for storage, focused work, admin, equipment, or secondary use.

For the right tenant, an extra room like this can be the difference between cramped and functional.

Interested in bundling #105 with another ELT studio? Reach out.
Know someone expanding their practice and needing more room? Share this post.

Something is hidden above the ceilings of Erie Labor Temple.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

For months, while repairing leaks, clearing debris, and exploring forgotten parts of the building, we began discovering objects buried inside the walls, ceilings, boiler rooms, and mechanical spaces of the historic Labor Temple at 1701 State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Union organizing cards hidden above a drop ceiling. Century-old fire extinguishers. Industrial masonry older than the surrounding structure. Labor law archives concealed above the Commonwealth Reading Room. Fragments of Erie’s labor, industrial, and civic history.

So we started documenting everything.

FOUND IN BUILDING is a new ongoing archival video and essay series from Erie Labor Temple and PH’KAKI Creative Works dedicated to uncovering, documenting, preserving, and investigating the hidden physical history of the building.

Part historical archive. Part urban archaeology. Part civic memory project. Part documentary field report.
ENTRY NO. 001 premieres Monday on Patreon and YouTube.

The building remembers more than we expected.

And we’re just getting started.

Follow along: Patreon + YouTube +

Now Quip on the ELT Patreon!

Rendering drop: Studio #102

Studio #102 is best understood as a support room — not a standard standalone studio. It works as an add-on for Studio #101 or Studio #103 and makes a lot of sense for storage, admin work, editing, tools, materials, or a second zone for a growing practice.

Not every useful room needs to be glamorous. Some rooms make the rest of the studio work better.

Interested in a bundled studio setup at Erie Labor Temple? Reach out.
Know someone who needs more than one room to work well? Share this with them.

Now introducing Studio #109.

This is one of the smallest rooms in Erie Labor Temple, and that is exactly why it may be right for somebody specific. Dark, compact, and highly niche, it could make an excellent editing room, archive room, tool room, solo-focus workspace, or dark room for the right creative practice.

This is not the room for everybody. It may be the perfect room for somebody.

Interested in Studio #109? Reach out.
Know someone who would instantly understand what to do with this space? Share this post.

Now introducing Studio #103.

This is a straightforward private studio inside Erie Labor Temple: clean, workable, and built for someone who wants a room of their own to get serious work done. It can also be paired with Studio #102 for a more flexible arrangement.

Not every artist needs spectacle. Some need a door, a plan, and a place to keep showing up.

Interested in renting Studio #103? Reach out.
Know someone looking for studio space in downtown Erie? Share this post.