A First Year of Art, Community, and Renewal: Studio 116 Turns One

When Melanie and Daniel Hopkins opened Studio 116 on April 4, 2025, they weren’t simply launching an art gallery. The enterprising couple who arrived in East Flat Rock from California six years ago were continuing the long, evolving story of a historic East Flat Rock building.

Housed in the iconic Stepp-Walker building, a structure with more than a century of changing identities, Studio 116 represents both preservation and reinvention. After extensive renovations, the Hopkins transformed part of the lower level of the 10,00 square foot building into a working gallery space that one that now hums with creativity, conversation, and community connection.