PH'KAKI Creative Works

09/18/2026

TONIGHT // THE BUILDING OPENS.

Gallery Night comes to 1701 State Street tonight.

And we’re opening more than a gallery.

Come inside Erie Labor Temple and wander.

See the BOOKFORGE bindery at work—and shop handmade journals, sketchbooks, notebooks, and other bookish things.

Step inside Sharon Smith Metal Arts.

Visit Art Hoard and Mia Donna in Studio 201.

Upstairs in the Atelier // Classroom, see GROUNDS FOR LABOR: COFFEE CULTURE—Ezju’s originals and prints exploring coffee as pigment, ritual, commodity, and evidence.

Pick up one of the Urban Hatch Project relief prints, including second-pull block prints of the ELT mark and ART WORKS HERE.

And if you’ve been wondering what is actually happening inside this old building:
Edward is giving tours.

Come see the studios. Come see the work. Come see what’s being built.

TONIGHT // SEPTEMBER 18 Doors 4:30 PM Gallery Night 5–10 PM ERIE LABOR TEMPLE 1701 State Street // Erie

ART WORKS HERE.

09/09/2026

BOOKFORGE will be LIVE at Erie Labor Temple (6:00 - 6:30 M ET)
Japanese Binding Workshop

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

08/27/2026

A creative business eventually has to meet the public.

Not as a follower count. Not as an impression. Across a table.

First Thursday Night Market returns to Erie Labor Temple on September 3, 6–10 PM.

We're building the September cohort now and looking for artists, makers, designers, publishers, food makers, creative businesses, and people making things that deserve to be encountered in person.

Fine art. Prints. Books. Objects. Wearables. Small-batch goods. Strange useful things. Things we're forgetting to name.

Experienced vendor? Good.
Never held a market table before? Also good.
Show us the work.

Applications remain open through our final call on Tuesday, September 1.
https://www.erielabortemple.com/first-thursday

BRING THE WORK. HOLD THE TABLE. GROW THE ROOM.

Longer evenings. Cooler air. Fresh work. Our September market brings the best of Erie's makers, artists, designers, collectors, and creative neighbors together under one roof.

08/25/2026

October is a work month.

INK SHIFT is coming to Erie Labor Temple: a month-long public drawing and mark-making practice built around repetition, experimentation, failure, accumulation, and evidence.
Make throughout October.

Come work with us on Thursdays (October).

Once a week, leave something behind.

Finished work. Failed work. Ink stains. Tests. Tools. Corrections. Fragments. Proof.

At the end of the month, UNION at Erie Labor Temple will turn that accumulated record toward the public.

The Call to Artists URL opens September 1…stay tuned!

Clock in.

08/24/2026

THE THREAD ISN'T DECORATION. IT'S STRUCTURE.

Japanese stab binding makes the mechanics of the book visible.

Every hole matters. Every pass has an order. Every corner changes the path. Every pull changes the tension.
On September 9, we're going to slow that structure down and make it understandable.

Four traditional patterns. Four completed books. One evening at the BOOKFORGE table.

Beginner-friendly.

September 9 · 6–9 PM

Take a seat: https://www.erielabortemple.com/elt-events/japanese-style-bookbinding

08/23/2026

TOMORROW: JAM & SLAM.
Bring an instrument, a poem, a lyric, a voice—or just yourself.

Jam with people you haven't met yet. Bring your own group. Form one for the night. Work something out by yourself. Put spoken word over live music, or keep the two completely separate.

No judges. No brackets. No required performance.

Monday · 6–10 PM Erie Labor Temple · 1701 State Street

https://www.erielabortemple.com/elt-events/jam-slam

08/23/2026

FOUR BOOKS. FOUR STITCHES. ONE NIGHT.

On Wednesday, September 9, the BOOKFORGE table opens for an evening of Japanese-style bookbinding.

We’ll work through four traditional stab-binding structures by hand: preparing the paper, punching the sewing stations, following the thread path, controlling tension, turning corners, and finishing the binding cleanly.

This isn’t a demonstration you stand around and watch.

You make the books. Four of them. And you take them home.

No previous bookbinding experience is required. The repetition is intentional. By the fourth structure, the goal is not simply to have copied a pattern. It is to begin understanding why the binding works.

JAPANESE STYLE BOOKBINDING
Wednesday, September 9
6–9 PM
BOOKFORGE at Erie Labor Temple
1701 State Street · Erie

Take a seat at the table: https://www.erielabortemple.com/elt-events/japanese-style-bookbinding

Japanese stab binding makes structure visible. Thread travels across the spine in precise patterns, joining cover and pages without hiding the work under cloth or leather.In this beginner-friendly BOOKFORGE workshop, participants learn four traditional sewing patterns and build four small books by h...

08/23/2026

FOUR BOOKS. FOUR STITCHES. ONE NIGHT.

On Wednesday, September 9, the BOOKFORGE table opens for an evening of Japanese-style bookbinding at Erie Labor Temple.

You’ll learn four traditional stab-binding patterns: preparing the paper, punching the holes, following the thread path, controlling tension, turning corners, and finishing the binding cleanly.

And you won’t leave with a practice sheet.

You’ll leave with four books you bound yourself.

No previous bookbinding experience is required.

JAPANESE STYLE BOOKBINDING
Wednesday, September 9
6–9 PM
BOOKFORGE at Erie Labor Temple
1701 State Street
Erie, PA

Reserve your place: https://www.erielabortemple.com/elt-events/japanese-style-bookbinding

Craft is culture. Come make something with your hands.

Japanese stab binding makes structure visible. Thread travels across the spine in precise patterns, joining cover and pages without hiding the work under cloth or leather.In this beginner-friendly BOOKFORGE workshop, participants learn four traditional sewing patterns and build four small books by h...

08/20/2026

TOMORROW // LISTENING ROOM
Three hours built around a radical little idea: Actually listen.

Records, recordings, conversation, and a room quiet enough to hear what somebody else heard in the music.

Friday · 6–9 PM, Erie Labor Temple

Come listen.

→ https://www.erielabortemple.com/elt-events/vinyl-night

Low Volume Vinyl Listening Night is a shared listening room for records people care enough to carry through the door.Bring a favorite album, a recent discovery, an overlooked B-side, or a sleeve whose design deserves time. Selections are played at a level that allows the music to remain central with...

08/19/2026

TOMORROW // SKETCHBOOK SOCIAL

Bring the sketchbook you actually use.

Artists, non-artists, habitual doodlers, rusty beginners: sit down, make marks, follow a prompt, draw what's in front of you, or disappear into your own project.

No critique circle. No required sharing. Nothing to prove.

Thursday · 6–9 PM Erie Labor Temple

https://www.erielabortemple.com/elt-events/sketchbook-social

Sketchbook Social is a weekly drawing room for artists, non-artists, habitual doodlers, rusty beginners, and anyone who wants to spend a few hours looking more closely.Bring your own sketchbook and favorite tools, or use the basic shared materials available that night. Work on a personal project, dr...