INDIANAPOLIS — A local artist busied herself during the COVID-19 quarantine by turning a historic home on the near east side of Indianapolis into an art studio. Every wall, door, and cabinet was hand-painted and restructured into what is now "Studio Alchemy."
Situated in the Cottage Home Neighborhood, the walls of a cozy house-turned-studio are now covered with framed artwork and murals. It's bright and open for guests to walk through — but that wasn't always the case at 1116 E. North Street.
The home was originally built sometime before 1890 and is listed as an Indiana Landmark, according to Vita, the owner of Studio Alchemy.
“The original reason I bought this funky building was because of the exterior," Vita said.
The artist bought the historic site in 2019. It was imperative that she had it renovated.
“When I purchased the property there were holes in the floor and no distinctive architectural details," Vita said. "I hired a contractor to replace major support beams.”
The reconstruction had completely stripped the studio's interior structure.
“When the renovation was done, I had a blank slate to fill with my artwork, but I had been so busy teaching art classes I had barely started decorating," she said. The only thing she had painted inside of the home at the end of 2019 was a line from a poem written by Brad Severance: "No mask shall come between us." An eerie foreshadow.
"Now the line seems eerily synchronistic and takes on a whole new meaning," Vita remarked.
Then, 2020 rolled around and COVID-19 hit. And suddenly, Vita had more time.
Vita took the entire year to completely redesign the space with images of nature-inspired art and quotes.
Here are more images of Studio Alchemy's remarkable transformation.
Studio Alchemy is open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
