Erie Labor Temple

06/04/2026

Erie Labor Temple is placing a moratorium on A.I.-generated art.

Because art is a human endeavor.

It is not merely output. It is labor, memory, culture, failure, repair, skill, imagination, and lived experience. It is the mark left by a person who risks something: time, dignity, doubt, nerve, in the act of making.

As an organization built to support creative workers, Erie Labor Temple takes seriously the ethical, cultural, and ecological questions surrounding generative A.I. We are concerned by issues of consent, copyright, labor displacement, data extraction, environmental strain, cultural flattening, and the use of artists’ work without meaningful permission, credit, or compensation.

For that reason, ELT will not accept, exhibit, promote, or use A.I.-generated artwork in our exhibitions, programming, promotional materials, or creative calls.

The only exception will be work explicitly framed within a critical, educational, or ethical discussion about A.I. itself, work that examines the machine rather than quietly passing through it.

This position may evolve as the technology, laws, and cultural standards evolve. But our foundation will not.

We stand with human artists.
We stand with creative labor.
We stand with the people who make culture by hand, heart, body, mind, and nerve.

This is not anti-technology.
This is pro-human.

Art works here because people do.

Learn more about Erie Labor Temple:
https://www.erielabortemple.com

06/02/2026

WEDNESDAY NIGHT → SLOW MAKE NIGHT ⚡

Historic labor infrastructure retooled into modern creative infrastructure.

Tomorrow night at Erie Labor Temple:
A calm, low-pressure creative gathering built around hand work, soft conversation, and the quiet electrical hum of people making things together.

Bring your:
✂️ sketchbooks
🧵 sewing
📚 journals
🖇️ collage work
🪡 mending
🛠️ unfinished experiments
👁️ strange little projects

No pressure.
No pitches.
No algorithm.

Just tables, tools, atmosphere, and other people trying to stay creatively alive.

Wednesday • 6–9 PM
Erie Labor Temple
Historic Downtown Erie, PA

Take me to the Temple.
Art Works Here.
Keep the power on.

https://www.erielabortemple.com

06/02/2026

Introducing the Erie Local 814 Creative Workers Union patch.

This is more than a graphic.

It is a mark for the people Erie Labor Temple is being built to serve: artists, makers, writers, performers, designers, bookbinders, musicians, teachers, creative small businesses, organizers, cultural workers, and anyone doing the real work of keeping creative life alive in Erie.

The words are simple because the mission is direct:

We make.
We build.
We organize creative labor.

Erie Labor Temple is historic labor infrastructure retooled into modern creative infrastructure. Studios. Workshops. Soft Socials. Gallery space. Reading Room. Book arts. Media art. Public programs. Civic conversations. A place where people can gather, learn, repair, exhibit, perform, read, argue, listen, and begin again.

Erie Local 814 is the community signal inside that larger build.

Creative work is work.

Art works here.

Join the circuit.

https://www.erielabortemple.com

06/01/2026

If you haven't signed up for our mailing list on the ELT website, here's our monthly newsletter for June on the Erie Labor Temple Patreon page!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/erie-labor-field-159870775

If you like what you see, consider joining one of our tier levels and becoming a patron of the arts!

Erie Labor Temple Monthly // Field Report Issue No. 002 by Erie Labor Temple: The Signal Room on Patreon. Join Erie Labor Temple: The Signal Room's community for exclusive content and updates.

06/01/2026

JUNE AT ERIE LABOR TEMPLE // SOFT-SOCIAL CALENDAR

No forced networking. No awkward mixer energy. No need to perform or be interesting.

Just a room, a reason to show up, and other people doing the same.

This June, Erie Labor Temple’s weekly Soft-Social Nights are building the first public rhythm of the building:

Tuesdays // Writer’s Night
Bring the page. Start the draft. Fix the sentence. Stare dramatically into the middle distance if needed.

Wednesdays // Slow Make Night
For handwork, small projects, quiet making, and creative decompression.

Thursdays // Sketch / Drawing Night
Sketchbooks, pencils, weird ideas, imperfect lines, and zero pressure.

Fridays // Low Volume Vinyl Listening Night
Music without the bar-volume assault. Sit. Listen. Breathe. Let the room do its thing.

Sundays // Reading / Book Night
A slower Sunday space for readers, browsers, book people, and anyone who needs a quieter public room.

Erie Labor Temple is becoming a place where people can gather, make, read, listen, write, think, and begin again.

Come through. Bring a friend. Bring a notebook. Bring the project you keep pretending you don’t have time for.

See the full ELT calendar here:
https://www.erielabortemple.com/elt-events/calendar

Art Works Here. Keep the power on.

06/01/2026

ERIE LABOR TEMPLE IS OPENING THE CIRCUIT.

Erie Labor Temple is a working cultural building in downtown Erie: studios, workshops, Soft Socials, public programs, gallery energy, book arts, media art, and rooms where people can actually make things.

This is not a blank white box.
This is not another passive venue.
This is historic labor infrastructure retooled into modern creative infrastructure.

Artists. Writers. Makers. Musicians. Designers. Instructors. Small creative businesses. People who need a reason to leave the house and be around other people making infinitely cool stuff.

This is your signal.

Come to a Soft Social.
Ask about studios.
Take a workshop.
Teach something.
Follow the calendar.
Tell one creative person who needs a room, a table, a night, or a reason.

Erie Labor Temple
1701 State Street, Erie, PA
Art Works Here.
www.erielabortemple.com

05/30/2026

How I use A.I. in my book arts. I don't because creating art is for humans.

05/27/2026

The Ethical Use of A.I. Lecture Brawl scheduled for tomorrow is being postponed until July 9, 2026. Bradley Ford needed to bow out for personal reasons, but the great news is that Thomas Laird has picked up the gauntlet. The July 9 date allows Tom to prepare his position and rebuttals, giving Sharon Smith a run for her money!

05/24/2026

Erie Labor Temple will be closed today (Sunday, May 24). Reading Room soft social is canceled for tonight.

ELT will be back on its regular schedule tomorrow.