It started with a lightning strike. Really.

On March 31, 2023, one of the largest fires in Madison’s history destroyed the ACME Iron Works shop on South Park Street. Started by Erika Koivunen and Aaron Howard, ACME was a prominent welding and blacksmithing team in the Madison art scene, producing works such as the CommuniTree on Willy Street and many projects for the Children’s Museum.

In the wake of Aaron Howard’s death, sculptor Chris Murphy and metalsmith Ava Magdalene joined Erika in the South Park Street space and began to create the community that became Rogues Gallery.

The fire seemed at first to bring nothing but devastating loss. Over the next few weeks Erika, Chris, and Ava dug through the acrid, charred remains of the shop, gleaning precious bits of hand-wrought metal and documenting the loss with the help of volunteers and stalwarts. With no obvious alternative studio space available, the future of this collective looked bleak.

The lightning that struck ACME Iron Works was Aaron Howard’s way of forcing a rebuilding of his community. From the ashes rose a newly reformed shop. Angel investors decided it was important that Erika had a shop to make the magic that she constantly puts out into the world and offered to support her new vision, Rogues Gallery.

This is how we were lucky enough to get this, dare we say magical, space that we inhabit. Our aim is to help with the cross pollination of the arts in our area with access for any artists who want to bare their souls.