The Floors Are Open

By Roberta Fallon
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Oct. 31, 2001

Outside it looks like a factory, but inside the building at 915 Spring Garden St. it feels like an art school dormitory, with soda machines, jammed bulletin boards and lumpy sofas in lounge areas. With 100 studios on five floors, this compact art "neighborhood" is heaven for the diligent artist, a serious hive of activity where work is everybody's goal. This weekend, 915 Spring Garden and its sister building, 314 Brown St., open their doors to the public for the 20-year anniversary of their annual Open Studios Weekend. For the artists, it's a way to get their work seen (and maybe sold). For visitors, it's a fun and efficient way to peruse art and to see the artists in their natural habitats. Smell the paint; see the brushes, hammers and empty coffee cans; be sure to notice the odd bits of visual ephemera artists keep on hand to satisfy the need to look at objects, images and materials. "Every floor is a little different," says Steve Donegan, who started the non-residential art studios in 1981 when he and his wife, Syd Carpenter, leased part of the fourth floor for studios of their own. These days, word of mouth brings many artists to what is now a thriving 915 Spring Garden. Donegan (studio 415), who has acted as project manager since the beginning, screens would-be renters using his intuition. You can't always get it right, though. One applicant told Donegan her medium was drawing. "What she didn't say was that she drew with a router [a noisy power tool]," he laughs. It all worked out in the end, though, when the artist agreed, reluctantly, to insulate her walls for soundproofing. Artist Carol Cole has been in the space since the very beginning, when she saw a notice on a bulletin board. Cole (studio 416 and 417), who works with cast paper, was hooked on the space--and the concept of community. "You have your own private space and people respect that. People are serious about work, but there's a social aspect. And if you want to take a break you can wander around and chat." Joyce Barker-Schwartz (studio 204 and 315), who weaves canvas into rugs and works in mixed media, has rented for 15 years. Barker-Schwartz enjoys the Open Studio days. "I do a lot of shows, but the Open Studio is different. It's like opening up my home to people. I look forward to it." Cole also looks forward to Open Studio weekends. "You get to show whatever you want, and more people come here than to galleries," she says. Her only regret is that she'll be too busy herself to visit the other studios.
>> Open Studios at 915 Spring Garden St. and 314 Brown St., Nov. 3 and 4, 11am-5pm. Free. 215.232.5459. www.915studios.com

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