When Melanie Hopkins and her husband, Daniel, arrived in East Flat Rock in 2020, the long-vacant Stepp and Walker Building was worn and weathered. But the California transplants believed the 19th-century general store still had a future—a belief that would grow into Studio 116, one of Henderson County’s newest art spaces.
“Opening the gallery came about organically,” says Hopkins, who spent 30 years in public broadcasting and graphic design before following her long-standing pull toward collage. As she and Daniel began renovating the 10,000-square-foot building, the couple carved out a spacious downstairs studio where she could coax beauty from old magazines and discarded ephemera.
In 2021, the couple opened the space to the public for the Art League of Henderson County’s annual Open Studio Tour, giving neighbors their first glimpse inside the revitalized building. Soon after, they offered studio space to their friend, wood sculptor David Macvaugh, who began showing his work during the next tour. The gallery, says Hopkins, “just grew from there.”
Studio 116 officially opened in April 2025, with Skybreak, an exhibit by Hendersonville-based artist Beth Beasley. “Studio 116 is a breath of fresh air,” says Beasley. “Melanie is perhaps more willing to take risks with artists who might not fit with other spaces. She is so open to ideas and creative ventures.”…