In a historic Barrio Viejo building once alive with union meetings and wrestling matches, a new kind of creative energy is taking shape, as camaraderie, curiosity and clay converge inside the Temple Arts Collective.

The collective, which is celebrating its grand opening Thursday, is a new multimedia co-working space for artists, offering studio rentals, classes and creative community.

Collective co-founder Lali Nicole said the endeavor came about almost as if by chance. Her partner had been encouraging her to open her own art studio and, during a walk downtown one day, pointed to the old Labor Temple building on South Stone Avenue.

The 19th-century building, located at 267 S. Stone Ave., has been a fixture of downtown and in its prime housed labor union meetings and wrestling matches, according to The Tucson Citizen.

The temple is now made up of rental spaces and is home to The Sound Post music store and a tattoo shop under the same name.

Nicole "fell in love with the space,” she told Tucson Spotlight during a visit to the temple. “It's so big and beautiful. I just thought it (needed) to be shared.”

The idea of opening the space up to other artists was born from what Nicole said is the isolation that can come with being a creator.

“Working as an artist is a lonely business. It's a lot of time spent in a studio, there's no one else there,” she said. “There's perks to that, but I like to be around people. I like the exchange of information, ideas and all of that.”

Working with Nicole to develop the collective is her mother, Gerrie Young, who also sits with Nicole on the board of WomanKraft Art Center.

Young is a longtime art educator in Tucson who met fellow co-founder Leslie Hall while teaching an art class at the YMCA.

“When (this) space came up, I said, ‘Leslie, you’ve got to see this,’” said Young, who previously had a studio but ended up letting it go because it was too small.

Hall, who had been looking for a space, brought ceramicist and collective co-founder Jane Krosen into the mix. The pair’s shared interest in ceramics brought them together to work collaboratively over the pandemic.

“The reality is, being by yourself is hard,” Krosen said. “The motivation is pretty limited. And when you have other people around you, you get inspired by their work, or just get impacted by doing work.”

With a studio located in her backyard, Krosen was ready to take on something new.

And with the recent closing of Philabaum Glass Studio, the group now has the supplies they need to start on this new endeavor.

They envision a space where people who haven't tried certain mediums of art can try them out, using the artists as resources for inspiration and guidance.

“We've worked with so many different mediums, we want to share that,” Young said. “We don't have to keep our watercolors or charcoal drawings bottled up anymore. We have a space (where) we can share all the things that people would like to learn, but never had a chance to learn.”

It’s about sharing their talents and passion with others, Krosen said.

Although the centralized location of the collective was a happenstance, Nicole sees it as an opportunity for visitors to take advantage of the creative inspiration that can be found downtown.

“I find that more people are very curious about the downtown area,” she said. “Everything's here, we don't have to hop in our car and go anywhere.”

Krosen sees the location as an homage to the roots of other local artists.

“The artist friends that I know, I've been telling them about where we are,” Krosen said. “They say, ‘Oh, yeah, so and so was here.’ This place is known for being an artist studio, where people really got their start.”

The collective is accepting art supplies and monetary donations, but they’re also hoping community members will come visit the temple with an open mind and try something new.

“The joy of discovering you have a talent, where you can think you have any artistic ability at all. It's like the most amazing feeling, and we want that feeling to be felt by others,” Nicole said. “We want everybody to come and support artists that will support them. It's a contagious thing, creativity.”

Krosen said her co-founders have already enriched her life, and she can’t wait to get to work giving back to the community.

“Life is precious, life is sweet, and we want people to live fully in their lives, and art is a way to do that,” Krosen said.

Topacio “Topaz” Servellon is a freelance journalist out of Tucson. Contact them at topacioserve@gmail.com.

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