About Us
The Place
Visitors and residents alike love Rogers City for the gorgeous location, safe community, and recreational opportunities. We have an active artist and volunteer community. A vibrant arts community drives community engagement. This is an intimate space that will host lectures, music performances, poetry readings/slams, author readings, lectures, improv, streaming opera, dance performances, and other arts and cultural events that create the opportunity for more and different cultural engagement.
The Space
The Stone House is conveniently sited downtown next to Westminster Park with ample street parking. The house has an amazing flow and is a work of art itself. The outside space has open areas that can be used by groups and individuals. The House is in a prime location to be a hub of activity in Rogers City. There are spaces for performance, workshops, and collaboration.
The Roadmap
The major changes we have made is to improve accessibility for differently-abled individuals as well as refresh and renew the interior and exterior finishes.
The ramp to our main entrance, new steps, and porch on the front of the house make us more accessible for all seasons. In 2025 we will reimagine the landscaping to make the space an attractive source of community pride and a desirable venue for hosting a variety of indoor and outdoor events.
The Stone House Studio Residency
Giving artists time & space to create.
It all begins with an idea. Bringing new ideas & innovation into our world.
The People
Katy Carignan
Director & Co-Founder
Katy is a longtime lover of the arts, and has worked as an actor, director, writer, photographer, attorney and she loves to dance (to her own drummer). She is an enthusiastic audience for all types of arts and culture. A homeowner and business owner in Rogers City, she is the Fundraising Chair of the Murals on Main festival, directed two winter musicals, founded You First! Improv group, is half of the Poetry Depot which can be seen at Rogers City Art Walks, an enthusiastic member of the Happy Bookers Book Club, and is the 2025 President of the Presque Isle Garden Club. She is excited to be creating a new place for arts and culture in Rogers City with visionaries who share her dream for this town.
director@thestonehousestudio.org
Lora Schwab
Co-Founder
Lora loves the arts and is a book club leader, opera aficionado, and creator. She has an incredible bakery that keeps visitors’ mouths watering all summer long. She has loved this house since she was in Rogers City as a child and had a dream to turn it into a center for arts and culture in Rogers City.
Melody Hincka, Assistant to the Director
Melody Hincka is an experienced administrator and legal assistant. She loves to hike, camp, and explore outdoor areas in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. She is a self-described skywatcher and loves the auroras we are lucky enough to see in Northern Michigan. She is a proud mother of three young women and two grandchildren. Melody enjoys volunteering in the Posen and Rogers City communities, including the Posen Potato Festival, Nautical Festival, Hops in the Hole, and serves on the organizing committee of the Murals on Main Festival. An art lover, she is also the Assistant to the Director of the Stone House Studio. She and her husband Josh, also direct the annual Nautical City Festival Charity Poker Tournament.