The Studio Art and Coffee Shop Plans Grand Opening Saturday
Posted
Jordan Fouts-
There wasn’t exactly a blueprint for building a combination art and coffee shop, so Steph Woodward and Steve Hively had to get crafty.
The couple opened The Studio in a converted home that doubles as a craft supply store and coffeehouse in late July. Patrons can sip a gourmet brew while finishing a project, with most of the tools they need within reach.
The combination seemed like a natural fit, said Woodward, allowing people to stay and eat while working on projects long-term.
“The hardest part was figuring out how to put things out,” she noted, indicating the displays of ribbons, papers, fabrics and other supplies. “The breakthrough was when I realized I have to think like crafters think, so I designed it like a craft closet.”
They plan an official grand opening Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. The Studio is at 2043 N. Detroit St., Warsaw, and is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 7 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
The event will feature face painting, make-and-take crafts such as cookie decorating and friendship bracelets, and a talk from Regina Troyer, owner of The Refinery Cafe in Goshen. Troyer provides their coffee beans – all 18 varieties.
Hively noted the beans are all acquired direct-trade, meaning Troyer knows the farmer she buys from. Besides the coffee variety, the shop also offers specialty drinks – which they say have gotten the highest praise from people who are picky about their coffee – and loose-leaf teas.
The menu currently offers baked goods from Crazy Day Gourmet, with plans to expand into vegetarian sandwiches and pastas with the option to add meat.
Growing the shop itself took some trial and error, the couple noted. They renovated the house and built much of the furniture by hand.
“We’ve been working out the kinks. There were a lot of kinks to work out,” Hively said, before pointing out where he put a nail through his finger during renovations.
They have plans to continue growing, with a craft classroom in back and a music venue in the basement. The basement hasn’t been started yet, but the classroom will begin holding lessons with local artists soon.
Lessons will cost the price of materials and the teacher’s fee, though there are also bins of free scraps for kids to use.
Affordability is the focus of the craft side of the Studio, with many materials cheaper than in big craft stores, Woodward said. They also will rent things from stamp sets and shaped cake pans to higher-end equipment like pattern-cutting machines.
They buy and consign gently used materials, and plan to display and sell patrons’ artwork.
“We get people donating their grandmother’s old supplies,” Woodward said. “Our vintage fabrics are truly vintage.”
A Warsaw native who moved back in order to start the shop, Woodward added she was born and raised doing arts and crafts with her own grandmother.
“Arts and crafts are something I love doing, and I think Warsaw really needed this,” she said.
