Bookforge

BOOKFORGE will have a table at Temple Night Market Thursday night.

You should probably have one too.

One of the things I like most about this market is that it doesn't all look the same.

Books end up next to ceramics. Prints next to soap. Fine art next to somebody making something completely unexpected.

It feels like a room full of people who actually make things.

There are still a few vendor spaces open for October 1.

If you've got good work and you've been meaning to get it out of the studio, this is a pretty easy excuse.

Thursday, October 1 · 6–10 PM Erie Labor Temple, 1701 State Street

Vendor registration closes Wednesday.

Bring what you make.

https://www.erielabortemple.com/firstthursdayeditions/october-2026

October 2026 | Erie Labor Temple First Thursday Night Market happens every first Thursday of the month inside ERIE LABOR TEMPLE. Meet the people making things. See the work up close. Buy direct. Support local creative independence.

Creative work needs somewhere to go.

Not just online. Not just into portfolios. Not just back onto the shelf.

Into rooms. Into conversations. Into somebody else's hands.

Temple Night Market is one small way of making that happen.

Artists, makers, publishers, designers, food people, and independent creative businesses get to put work directly in front of the people who might buy it, talk about it, remember it, or come back looking for more.

There are still a few openings for Thursday.

If you're making something independently in Erie and haven't quite decided whether you're ready to put it out in public—

You probably are.

TEMPLE NIGHT MARKET
Thursday, October 1
6–10 PM
Erie Labor Temple
1701 State Street

Vendor applications close Wednesday, September 30.

Make the thing. Bring the thing. See what happens.

https://www.erielabortemple.com/firstthursdayeditions/october-2026

October 2026 | Erie Labor Temple First Thursday Night Market happens every first Thursday of the month inside ERIE LABOR TEMPLE. Meet the people making things. See the work up close. Buy direct. Support local creative independence.

I'm excited to announce that the Erie Labor Temple's EMERGENCY EDITION No. 001 - AFTER THE DEADLINE contributor application page is now open!

https://www.erielabortemple.com/emergency-edition

ONE QUESTION. ONE ROOM. ONE NIGHT. ONE EDITION.
Saturday, November 21
PUT YOUR NAME IN THE REGISTER.

Emergency Edition No. 001 | Call for Writers, Artists & Crew | Erie Labor Temple Join Emergency Edition No. 001 at Erie Labor Temple: a one-night live publishing experiment bringing writers, artists, editors, photographers, printers, and bookmakers together to create a finished edition before the deadline.

Tomorrow night at the BOOKFORGE table.

STAB BINDING // AFTER HOURS
Thursday, September 24
6:30–8:30 PM

$55 // 18+
Erie Labor Temple

Four traditional Japanese binding structures.

Choose two to build at the table. Learn the paper preparation, punching, thread paths, tension, corner turns, and knot placement that make the structures work.

Leave with two finished books—and the instructions and materials to make the other two at home.

No bookbinding experience required. All materials included.

Visible thread. Real structure. Two hours at the table.

Register through Erie Labor Temple.



https://www.erielabortemple.com/event-details/stab-binding-after-hours-sew-your-own-japanese-notebook

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.

Fresh off the BOOKFORGE is a special centerpiece for an exhibit tomorrow during Gallery Walk! Let me know if you see it while walking around downtown Erie, and don't forget to visit us at Erie Labor Temple during your Gallery Walk.

STAB BINDING // TWO WAYS INTO THE WORK

VISIBLE THREAD / FIRST STRUCTURES

Paper, punch, thread path, tension, corner turns and the confidence that comes from seeing the structure work.

SAT SEP 19 · 2:00–4:00 PM · $45 · Family Matinee
1 Four-Hole Japanese notebook + take-home Noble Binding materials/instructions.

THU SEP 24 · 6:30–8:30 PM · $55 · After Hours
Choose 2 of 4 traditional Japanese stab structures + take-home materials/instructions for the other 2.

Materials are included. Beginners are welcome within the age guidance for each session. Choose the room that fits how you want to learn, then come build something that has to hold together.

WHAT COUNTS AS INK?

Literal physical ink must exist in the underlying work.

Drawing ink. India ink. Sumi. Brush ink. Fountain pen. Dip pen. Marker. Ballpoint. Printmaking ink. Lettering. Comics. Artist books. Mixed media where ink actually matters.

Photography, scanning, and digital layout can document the work.

A digital-only simulation of ink does not satisfy the premise.

$0 // 18+ // no geographic restriction.

REGISTER // CLOCK IN.

https://www.erielabortemple.com/oct-ink-shift

Four tables are being set for October.

Cloth. Thread. Cord. Metal. Memory. Specimen.

Two will happen in daylight. Two will happen after dark. All four begin with the same question: when does an ordinary material become an object we cannot dismiss?

We will show you soon.

TAKE A SEAT

https://www.erielabortemple.com/event-details/stab-binding-family-matinee-sew-your-own-japanese-notebook