From Indigenous traditions to today’s downtown studios, Centre County’s tattoo history reveals an enduring art of creativity, healing, and human connection
Ink carefully applied beneath the surface layers of skin may have sounded crazy to the first cavemen artists splattering paint on rock walls. Still, human creativity prevailed, giving us one of our most unique art forms to date: tattoo art. As anthropologists attempt to trace some of the lost history of human ink, tattoo artists across Centre County are leaving their creative mark one client at a time.
Central PA’s Ink-Stained History
Far from the days of Ötzi the Iceman — one of the oldest recorded examples of a tattooed human — tattoo artists now line nearly every block of downtown State College, and their abundance gives a peek into both local history and the never-ending pendulum swing of public perceptions of tattoos.
Gone are the days of full-sleeved employees wearing long sleeves on the job, as Pew Research Center’s 2023 study identified 32% of U.S. adults as having a tattoo and 80% of Americans as noting society’s growing acceptance of body ink. The numbers support tattooing’s modern popularity, but they don’t account for the winding road tattoo art took to becoming a respected art form in central Pennsylvania.
Back in the 18th century, the Bald Eagle Creek Path was a route Native Americans of the Six Nations used to travel through Pennsylvania, including Centre County. Although the route doesn’t exist in the same way, the Bald Eagle name we now know so well stems from the Lenape tribe, one of many Indigenous communities whose long history includes body tattoos filled with symbolic meaning.
By using tools like charcoal and bone needles, the Lenape carved intricate designs into the skin of both men and women in their tribe well before the state became Pennsylvania. When Europeans arrived in the 1700s, Lenape tribes and neighboring Indigenous cultures were the first targets of violent assimilation, leading to their generational practices being unjustly defined as savagery.
When Quakers began populating the state soon after, Christian beliefs spread through a once-Indigenous Pennsylvania, a religion that would swing the tattoo pendulum into its era of taboo. Now, just a few centuries later, tattoos are back to being the norm, making Central Pennsylvania home to a growing number of tattoo artists adding their own unique passion, care, and creativity to the history of the craft.
Entering a New Tattoo Era
Right on East Beaver Avenue, King Cobra Tattoo owner Justin Sellers brings another snapshot of tattoo art history to downtown State College, naturally representing the 1980s punk rock DIY movement that both started the body-ink counterculture and blossomed his love of tattooing.
“The first time that I even thought about a tattoo was when my older brothers were messing around, and one of them built a tattoo machine out of random parts,” Sellers says. “My brother had been tattooing for 10 years and then he started teaching me how to tattoo.”
Sellers’ older brother Tim, along with a hometown friend, opened the store as Tattoo Mark’s back in 1999. Ten years ago, the brothers officially bought Tattoo Mark’s, rebranded it as King Cobra Tattoo and began running it together, turning punk rock passions into a family business. For Tim, building custom tattoo equipment was the artistry he’d carry beyond King Cobra Tattoo. Now traveling for his craft, Tim’s passed full ownership over to his brother Justin, and for Justin, the tattoo machines were just the start.
The mesmerizing color and designs of tattoo art ended up capturing his spirit and sketching his future path in ink.
“I think what really got me interested is when I started looking at antique designs and traditional designs,” Justin says. “I had some traditional European and American antique design books, and some traditional Japanese books. I would just flip through them, and I just loved the imagery of both Japanese and Western [designs]. Some of them were really cool and really serious; some of them were really goofy, and I liked them all.”
As the Sellers brothers’ artistic passions flourished, their community grew right alongside their State College store.
“A lot of locals that we’ve got to know over the years [became] our friends, and we just met them through here,” Justin says.
“As a whole, it’s really great to tattoo in this town and we’ve met lots of great people. In the summertime, the locals come in and keep us going when there aren’t as many students here. We’re happy to have them as well as the students.”
Inked State College residents like Ellen Fryer and Raelyn Chludzinski currently frequent King Cobra Tattoo to add to their works of body art, and to Chludzinski, the artistic process begins well before getting inked.
By bringing intentionality to tattooing before even stepping into the chair, Chludzinski shows that the research and preparation before getting a tattoo are an art form in and of themselves.
“I look to see if their work has strong line work, proper placement, and the color saturation looks even,” Chludzinski explains. “I’ll keep coming back to an artist who is patient with the outline, placement, and the tattoo process itself. Good communication is key.”
After getting her first tattoo in 2017, Chludzinski immediately recognized the ways great tattoo artists can elevate the experience.
“What stood out was how professional the artist was with me. She knew it was my first time, so she did everything she could to make sure I was comfortable by providing me with water and breaks if needed. The process was quick, the pain was manageable, and after my first one, I knew I’d want more!”
Turning Art Into Healing
Adam Zimmer, owner of Love & Lies Tattoo on South Pugh Street, uses his art school expertise to blend beautiful shades of ink into illustrative, abstract graffiti, watercolor, and black-and-gray styles. His impressive artwork helped him enter the tattoo art scene, but after 17 years in the business, body ink has become more than just an art form for Zimmer.
“I just really like connecting with my client on a personal level. I know we’re just here doing a job, but when you have to sit with somebody for hours a day, I like to connect with them. I like to know more about them than just doing the job,” Zimmer says.
“Over time, you start to grow with your client and you start to understand them on a deeper level, so you kind of start to understand the person more and what they want out of their art.”
The importance of connection helped Zimmer bridge his tattoo art into new territory: helping breast cancer survivors as a trained nipple reconstruction tattooist.
Tattooing 3D reconstructions onto women’s chests after mastectomies, Zimmer helps breast cancer survivors return to a sense of physical normalcy, providing them with a unique path to healing.
“I just always thought it was fascinating. I’ve had people in my family have breast cancer and friends of mine, so it was something I just always wanted to do to help give back, and now I can,” Zimmer says. “I don’t charge for it. It’s just something I give back to people.”
Zimmer’s people-focused approach to the art transcends tattoo ink, making his affinity for connection just as much a part of his artistic process as his striking designs. It’s a reminder of the ways art encourages human reciprocity, especially when it’s in tattoo form. For some, it’s the key quality they’re truly looking for in their tattoo artist.
Ink aficionado Ellen Fryer has watched State College’s tattoo scene grow over the past 25 years, citing the newly emerging studios and diverse art styles as ways the town now provides an array of tattoo experiences for everyone.
When Fryer thinks of what keeps bringing her back to the tattoo chair, it’s the visceral memories that stand out the most.
“I equate getting your first tattoo to your first kiss … you’re never going to forget anything about it. Good or bad,” Fryer says.
After her first tattoo at 16, Fryer still revels in the simple joys that connect the tattoo art process to the importance of human connection and the memorable parts of life. Before checking off her desired detail, art style, and cleanliness boxes, Fryer focuses on the person behind the tattoo gun.
“For me, it’s the artist’s personality. Can we have a conversation while I sit there having a needle drag across my skin? Can he envision what I’m trying to describe to him, and then draw it?”
That core connection between client and artist is exactly what makes tattooists so unique. Tapping into human care and trust, the best tattoo artists foster bonds beyond inked works of art, and it’s exactly what makes the art form so timeless.
Eternal Works of Body Art
As Centre County’s tattoo scene grows, its tattoo history grows with it, ushering in an era where the importance of its art continues to connect local people. Walking through downtown State College, you’ll inevitably pass windows ushering you into current shop staples like Ikonic Ink and Drip Studios, a spot local tattoo enthusiast Shannon Brace likes best for lead artist Jen’s creative touch.
For all interested in one of the most permanent forms of artwork, visiting any tattoo shop can immerse you in the history of the art just by having a chat with the local tattoo artist. Tattoo shops come in all shapes and sizes, from your usual walk-ins to appointment-only studios like Bellefonte’s DayDream Ink Lounge. It’s this wide array of passionate artists and tattoo lovers that keeps Centre County’s tattoo history growing.
From accepted to taboo and back again, the future may try to swing the pendulum back, but humans will always find a way to celebrate such unique artistry. The meaningful power of tattoos in Centre County has continued since the first Indigenous Pennsylvanians practiced the craft before it became taboo.
Tattoos will forever mark our history, diving beneath the physical layers to transform the human body into its own work of art. Since the cavemen, it’s what art’s always done best: uniquely blending beauty and human connection. Even though some of our earliest tattoo histories may still be lost to time and colonization, there’s no denying that the ink lasts forever. T&G
Angelique Redwood is a freelance writer based in State College.
