While the business may sport a familiar name, the returning Mud-Luscious has a new home and new purpose: to give people a spot to gather and scratch their creative itch.

Dowagiac’s Michelle Stambaugh is resurrecting her old art studio in a new location, inside the former Dowagiac Vacuum Center at 206 S. Front St. The shop, which Stambaugh wants to turn into a hub of artistic energy in the downtown community, will have a soft opening Friday, with a grand opening scheduled for October, Stambaugh said.

In addition to Stambaugh’s pottery studio and storefront, the shop will sell antiques from Vickie Philipson’s Cabin Antiques and clothing from Laura Kinzler. Another local artist, Kandy Grady, will also set up a painting studio on the storefront’s interior balcony.

The thing Stambaugh is most excited to offer customers, though, will be pottery lessons. Aimed at beginners in groups of three to 10, Stambaugh said participants will learn how to create a specific item, while picking up general tricks and tips of the creative process.

Stambaugh purchased several pieces of equipment, including five pottery wheels, over the last several years to pursue her dreams of teaching, she said.

“This has been something I wanted to do ever since I’ve started working with clay,” she said. “I wanted to share not just my work, but the creative spirit and thinking with others. That is what I want this place to be about.”

Classes will cost between $25 to $45, she said.

Stambaugh has been passionate about pottery and creating other crafts from clay for more than a decade. Her love for the medium was sparked after attending a ceramics class at Southwestern Michigan College.

However, her passion for creating stems back from her childhood. While others were outside playing, she would be gathering sticks, flowers and other materials to make crafts, she said.

“I just want to make stuff and share it,” she said. “I always loved the excitement of looking at something you’ve made and being able to tell someone ‘yeah, I made that.’”

Stambaugh opened her first pottery store and studio, also named Mud-Luscious, in 2013, inside the former Laurie Anne’s clothing store. The name of the business, based off the poetry of E.E. Cummings, was suggested her friend and former employee Claudia Zebell.

The artist later sold the first Mud-Luscious in 2014 to Zebell, which freed Stambaugh to focus on her pottery. Zebell, who later renamed the business to Rosy Tomorrows after moving to the storefront next door, has continued to sell Stambaugh’s work at her business.

While she has worked mostly out of her home studio the last several years, she and her husband, Scott, have recently put their house up for sale, which prompted her to search for a new place to practice her craft. Philipson, who is also the director of the city’s downtown development authority, told Stambaugh that the former Dowagiac Vacuum Center’s storefront was available for lease if she was interested.

“I was shocked [at the space],” she said. “My husband said this was place was perfect.”

People interested in signing up for classes or for more information may contact Stambaugh at mstambaugh01@hotmail.com or at (269) 470-9840.

“People should just come out and get a feel for what we are about,” she said.