Early this morning a fire in the 319 N. 11th St. building (the socalled “Vox” building) brought Fire Department personnel, and later, the Department of Licenses and Inspection personnel to the building that houses eight alternative artist-run galleries and some small businesses.
Luckily nobody was injured and the damage to the building was said to be minimal, from smoke and fire. The blaze was in the North fire escape stairwell, back of the building, according to Aissulu Kadyrzhanova, an artist whose studio is on the 6th floor. (Ed. Note: information about the location of the fire has been changed in this post. The post previously indicated the fire was in the North stairwell, front of the building.)
Read the report at Philly.com.
As with the small fire at the 915 Spring Garden Street studios a few years back, the biggest outcome of this small fire will most likely be the closure of the building, which will force the artists to relocate and, with luck, open elsewhere.
Galleries and businesses we know will be affected (list incomplete): Vox Populi, Napoleon, Automat, Grizzly Grizzly, Practice, Marginal Utility, The Great Far Beyond, Stockbridge Fine Art Print. We are thinking of you all.
