Violations empty out studios, and artists mourn

Moving trucks were triple-parked outside 915 Spring Garden St. in the rain Thursday morning as artists - some of whom had kept studios in the old Reading Railroad building for 30 years - wrapped sculptures, boxed paintings, and wrangled with file cabinets.

The city Department of Licenses and Inspections had evacuated the building after a small fire broke out Sept. 2 in one of the nearly 100 studios. Though it was quickly extinguished, subsequent inspections by L&I and the Fire Department yielded 29 violations that landlord Pintzuk Brown Realty Group of Jenkintown will have to resolve before tenants can get back to work.

Amid the uncertainty over when the building will reopen - or if it will, given the number of violations and the gentrification pressures that many artists fear will claim their studios for condominiums - one of the oldest studio communities in the city has been sent scattering.

Some artists still intend to come back, but others were packing up for good.

"This is horrible," said Andrea Beizer, who was wrapping paintings in the hallway and directing a crew of movers.

"I was getting ready for POST" - Philadelphia Open Studio Tours in October, a major moneymaker for many artists at 915 - "and now it's impossible. I can't do anything."

L&I initially gave tenants Wednesday and Thursday to move out but later said it would accommodate those who need more time. Beizer, a painter, cartoonist, and Art Institute professor who has been there for a decade, spent at least $1,000 on movers and a storage unit to meet the deadline.

She hopes to move back soon.

"I've been happy here," she said.

But Beth Grossman, chief of staff at L&I, called the lack of working sprinklers, stand pipe, and other fire-safety measures in the building "disturbing" and "potentially catastrophic."

"The violations here are severe," she said. "This is an issue of public safety - not just for tenants but for first responders and visitors."

Pintzuk Brown did not respond to calls or emails.

But in an email to tenants obtained by The Inquirer, it painted an upbeat picture: "Landlord and Ms. Grossman have agreed that Landlord will work with L&I and together both will make this compliance issue a priority as an effort to reopen the building."

Sculptors Stephen Layne and Amy Kann aren't waiting around.

Layne, who has been working at 915 Spring Garden for four years, and Kann, who's been there 30 years, quickly leased studio space in Grays Ferry.

On Thursday, they were rushing to get their belongings wrapped and ready to move. Layne was supposed to be down at the sports complex installing his statue of boxing legend Joe Frazier on Thursday ahead of a Saturday unveiling, but the rain postponed that work and gave him time to personally attend to the move.

"We have the impression nobody really knows what's going on or how long it will take to repair things," Layne said. Besides, even if he stayed, he figures "it's only a matter of time before everything is turned into condos."

Still, Sandra Hoffman said experience suggested otherwise. The painter, who was gathering her works for a show at Borelli's Chestnut Hill Gallery, was staying put - and staying positive.

"So many times, we were afraid that the building was sold and we'd have to get out," she said. "But I've been here 30 years."

Anne Saint Peter, a photographer, packed up what equipment she could, though her large-format printer and flat files would have to stay. She can't bring herself to move out.

"The reason that I've stayed there is the people I've met and the community," she said. "You meet people who are like-minded and who can help you with something. It's nice to know a framer when you need one. It's nice to say to someone, 'I just made this piece. What do you think?,' and to have them say, 'Well, it's quite reminiscent of something you did 10 years ago.' That's the most important part of the building."

Scott Cameron, a painter, said closing 915 would be "a huge loss. We have a very fragile arts community in Philadelphia."

He thinks the city is overreacting. He and others believe the building is safe. "None of [the inspectors], it seems, is acquainted with what an art studio building looks like," he said.

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