Friday morning at 113 South Elm Street in Hope, The Studio and Events held a ribbon-cutting and brunch, drawing dozens to come to the redesigned venue space and see the latest incarnation of one of Hope’s most historic and storied locations.

As you enter, you first see a spacious room suitable for the serving of meals.  There’s ample room along a bar shelf for buffet items and beverage service. This morning this was taken up with items including muffins, the makings of a breakfast yogurt parfait with straw- and blueberries, cookies and more.  For fans of the savory there were mini-pigs in a blanket, pepperonis and cheeses.  Coffee and fruit juices were available, too.

As you walked east through the building, you entered a nicely-appointed reading lounge and then a wide-open kitchen and storage room.  One could well imagine The Studio hosting meetings, parties, weddings, musical performances, family reunions, post-game gatherings and much more.

The business is the brainchild of Kamber Neely and Heather Clements.  At this morning’s ribbon-cutting, I asked Neely how the idea of using The Studio as an event space developed.

“Heather said it the other day best, that it was definitely God's timing. For sure, this is something we both were interested in for a long time. I had the pieces, she had the space, and so it just came together.”

Neely also described the thinking that went on that resulted in The Studio’s interior look. “Our biggest thing is just whatever feels like a vibe to us. If it just feels neat. We wanted to make it very minimal, but also modern, but eclectic vintage.”

Clements said, “We had so much, so it ended up being a good mix of some of my stuff with some of her stuff, and we just put it together.”

Both Clements and Neely have operated their own respective businesses, with Neely owning Downtown Market and Clements running The Studio previously as an antiques and home décor shop as well as a photo studio. Heather Clements Photography is still going strong, too.

The Studio and Events can be contacted at [email protected]

The first ninie photos are by Mark Ross. The remainder are by Jeff Smithpeters.