From Catholic School to Creative Haven
Religious Reimagining, Part 2: St. Mary’s Space to Create and the Writing Studio
Religious Reimagining: Two-Part Series
This month, I’m going to share two reflections on creative refoundings and reimaginings of religious spaces, both on the “Benedictine Block” here in Erie, PA. The first was on Pax Priory, and today’s is about The Studios at St. Mary’s: Space to Create.
Inside The Studio St. Mary’s Space to Create, a former Catholic elementary school, there are countless ways to create. The building includes several artist studios—including weaving, sketching, videography and woodworking–as well as community spaces–like Sister Gus’s Kids Café, Infinite Love Yoga, and Erie Arts & Culture.
For the last year and a half, I’ve been hosting a group in the Writing Studio on every New Moon of the month, bringing together people from across the city who desire a quiet space to write and a thoughtful group of people to connect with. The themes of our gatherings are rooted in an understanding that the creative life and spiritual path are intertwined, yet at the same time we all find our own words and ways into that.
When you step into the studio from the wide, wood paneled hallway, you are met with tall windows, quirky second-hand furniture, and walls covered with images and words to inspire.
On one chalkboard, it reads: “The temple bell stops ringing, but the sound keeps coming out of the flowers” Basho. On another chalkboard, there are quotes and pictures of Mary Oliver that remain up from an event hosted years ago where everyone brought their favorite poem of hers and read it aloud. In between the windows and tucked into corners, there are original paintings by the incredible local artist Marcy Hall, with her depictions of spiritual figures from various traditions.
Other posters are spread out throughout the room, including an icon of Benedict and portraits of Alice Walker and Audre Lorde with quotes from them. There is also the well-known “How To Build Community” poster from the Syracuse Cultural Workers, and a poster that sits on an end-table and says quite simply in bold, purple and yellow letters: “LISTEN.” The inspiration here is vast: monastic and interspiritual, creative and artistic, social and political.
Because of the wisdom that lines the walls, and the spirit of the space in which we are a part, the studio strikes me as a sort of Creative-Spiritual Sanctuary. It is no accident, I believe, that many participants who have gravitated toward the writing group identify as queer and secular. These particular ways of being that put them “outside” of particular categories of gender, sexuality, or religiosity, mean that they search out non-traditional spaces of belonging.
For a former Catholic elementary school to now become a creative home for queer writers and artists is no small thing. One time, a community organizer came to Writing Night and said it immediately reminded her of her Catholic school upbringing. The month before that, a local children’s book author who identifies as atheist said the space felt like the non-denominational church she belonged to in college. In both cases, they thankfully greeted this familiarity as a gift rather than a trigger of deeper trauma. And in both cases, it revealed how much we long for spaces to belong, even if we outgrew the forms that originally took for us. Whether we have chosen to leave those spaces behind or we have been pushed out of those spaces because of our identities, it’s healing when we are once again invited in. Though, essential in that invitation of re-entry when we are reclaiming religious spaces for broader community belonging, the space must welcome the whole of the person rather than ask for conditional belonging.
In the local arts and culture magazine Erie Reader, a recent story on St. Mary’s: Space to Create is titled, “How Erie’s first parochial school became an inspiring art and community safe-space.” The author Erin Phillips concludes this way:
“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.’”
In its past as a parochial school, Catholic education may have asked for a “sameness” of belief and culture in its students, but now as an artist studio space, it is quite the opposite. The creative vision that reopened this building in 2015 as a home for artists has become a safe space and more. It is also a space of encounter and collaboration, trusting that each expression of the spiritual-creative life is not just valid but embraced as a part of a larger tapestry, made richer by its variety.
The poetry on the porch steps facing the East 10th Street entrance paint the perfect invitation into this creative home, borrowing Mary Oliver’s beloved question: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Further reading on St. Mary’s Space to Create:
As mentioned, Erin Phillips wrote about the building as a “shining example of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, creative community, collaboration, and artistic vision” in the June 2024 issue of Erie Reader.
Amy VanScoter wrote about teaching yoga classes to Kids Cafe participants at Infinite Love Yoga, in Emmaus Ministries’ June 2024 issue of The Companion. Amy, Community Development and Communications Coordinator for Emmaus, reflects on inviting children into a quiet, peaceful space like the yoga studio.
The Fire Rages On – Article in Final Issue of Geez:
I am very honored to have a piece in the summer issue of my favorite magazine: Geez 73: The Fire Rages On. As their last issue (!!) it will focus on the holiness of fire as a cycle of life. My essay is titled: “Why not be utterly fire? Monastic insights on letting go & becoming eternity.”
Geez is a print-based magazine, always full of thoughtful insight and beautiful artwork, and grounded in “contemplative cultural resistance.” You can pre-order this final issue (by July 5!) here.
Upcoming Spirituality Events – in Erie, and online:
Thursday, June 27 – God’s Tender Mercy Zoom Retreat on Monasteries of the Heart open to all members, new and familiar
Sunday, June 30 – Where Hope Is: Stories of Benedictine Influence at Hirt Auditorium Blasco Public Library in Erie, PA
Thursday, July 11 – Benedict’s Feast Day Gathering with all Monasteries of the Heart members, free and open to all via Zoom