East Studio · 58
Studio 1912
History, light and a members-only door
There are countless photography studios. Very few have a story. Studio 1912 sits in the historic Olde School building — East and West spaces, preserved architecture, and the kind of scale, texture, and light that makes every session feel bigger.
Studio 1912
Powerful spaces.
Historic bones.
Modern creative freedom.
Studio 1912 occupies the entire main floor and lower level of the historic Olde School Apartments, offering more than 4,800 square feet of dedicated creative space inside one of Sioux Falls' oldest surviving educational buildings.
Built in 1886, the building traces its roots back to the early days of Sioux Falls. Today, the upper floors have been beautifully restored into apartments, while the historic main floor and basement continue their story as a place where photographers, filmmakers, artists, entrepreneurs, and creators bring their ideas to life.
Every hallway, every staircase, every oversized window carries more than a century of Sioux Falls history. What was once a place of learning has become a place of creativity, collaboration, and storytelling.
4,800sq ft
Two levels
2
East + West
$300/mo
Membership
See the spaces.
East/West
West Studio · 37
More than just a studio
No two sessions ever have to look the same.
Walking into Studio 1912 feels different because it is different. The original architecture has been carefully preserved wherever possible — soaring ceilings, oversized windows, thick masonry walls, and details that simply can't be recreated in a modern commercial build.
Rather than renting a single room, members access the entire creative footprint: lifestyle rooms, seamless backdrops, natural-light environments, changing areas, client spaces, and work zones — all connected under one historic roof.
Whether you're photographing families, seniors, weddings, newborns, branding, commercial work, or video content, every corner offers a different mood and a fresh perspective.
Membership includes
Bring your camera. The rest is already here.
Your membership provides exclusive access to the entire studio ecosystem — furniture, lighting, scheduling, client-ready spaces, and the flexibility to build sessions that feel distinct from one another.
an amazing members-only experience
- 01Multiple professional shooting environments
- 02Natural-light studios with oversized historic windows
- 03Lifestyle sets, furniture, beds, couches, rugs, tables, and chairs
- 04Professional lighting equipment and modifiers
- 05Seamless backdrop systems
- 06Business-class Wi-Fi
- 07Secure online scheduling
- 08Climate-controlled creative spaces
- 09Private restrooms
- 10Equipment storage
- 11A professionally maintained environment built for working creators
- 12Access to the full main floor and lower level
Floor plan
East and West under one roof.
The layout gives members multiple looks without hopping locations — reveal and newborn areas, lifestyle zones, larger open bays, storage, and support spaces all stitched into one historic footprint.
Built for community
A space that grows with the people inside it.
Studio 1912 has never been just a place to rent time. It is a community built around creativity. Members range from photographers launching their first business to established professionals serving hundreds of clients every year. Ideas are shared. Techniques are exchanged. Everyone grows together.
A building with a story
History isn't stored behind glass here.
Long before cameras, lighting equipment, and content days filled these rooms, generations of students walked the same hallways. Today, that same structure supports a new kind of work — modern creative output inside more than 140 years of preserved Sioux Falls character.
Since 1886 · South Dakota School for the Deaf
Over a century of stories, inside these walls.
Long before the cameras arrived, these halls rang with basketball games, gymnasium drills and the clatter of printing presses. Generations of Deaf students learned, played and built their futures here. Studio 1912 is named for the year this building grew — and it still carries their spirit.
1886 Built·1912 Expanded·1993 Saved
1886–1913
Built to grow
The boys' dormitory opened in 1886. Its unfinished east wall made room for the 1912 expansion — classrooms, an assembly hall and two basement gymnasiums that gave Studio 1912 its name.
1913–1979
A place to learn and make
Generations of South Dakota School for the Deaf students learned, played basketball and trained in these rooms. Later, its print shop taught a trade on linotypes and cylinder presses.
1993–Today
Preserved, then reimagined
The South Dakota Association of the Deaf helped save the building from demolition. Today, Studio 1912 carries that creative spirit forward as a modern home for photography, film and ideas.
The building itself
Watch these walls rise, 1885–1929.
c. 1885 · 01 / 10
Boys' Dormitory ~ Circa 1886–1888
One of the earliest known photos of the newly completed building, designed by architect Wallace L. Dow. It is believed to have served as the Boys' Dormitory, while likely also housing classrooms and living quarters for faculty or staff during the school's early years.
Courtesy of Siouxland Heritage Museum. Photo and caption via SDAD.org
From the archive
The students who came before us.
Swipe through life inside these walls — basketball, gymnasium drills and the print shop. Each original archive file name remains with its photo.
The 1917–18 boys' basketball team in the basement gymnasium the 1912 expansion created.
1918.jpg
01 / 11
With gratitude
Thank you, Scott Miller and the S.D. Association of the Deaf.
Scott Miller, longtime chairperson of the S.D. Deaf Cultural Heritage Center, shared the photos and records seen here. Together with the South Dakota Association of the Deaf, he has helped preserve generations of Deaf life — and the building Studio 1912 calls home.
Become part of the story
Membership.
Studio Access
$300/ month
Membership agreement. Availability is limited.
- Full access to East and West studio spaces
- Online scheduling for your shoots
- Natural-light rooms, lifestyle sets, and flexible zones
- Lighting gear, modifiers, props, and client-ready furnishings
- Private restrooms, storage, and a community of working creators
Sick of the same old studio? If you're looking for character, flexibility, history, and a genuine creative community, we'd love to welcome you to Studio 1912. It's an amazing members-only experience.
Location
104 N Krohn Place · Sioux Falls, SD