Red Hook Open Studios forges ahead after fire * Brooklyn Paper

"Less than a month after a fire devastated a local arts hub, Red Hook Open Studios is going ahead as planned - mostly - this weekend, Oct. 11 and 12. The annual event invites New Yorkers to explore dozens of usually-private artist studios around the nabe, meet artists, and buy their work directly from the source. But dozens of those studios and hundreds of pieces of artwork were destroyed in a five-alarm fire at 481 Van Brunt St. on Sept. 18. Many artists lost everything, and even the studios that survived suffered significant water and mold damage and aren't safe to enter."

"So Red Hook Open Studios has pivoted. 'There are rumors saying that it's been cancelled because of the fire but that's so far from the truth,' said event organizer Deborah Ugoretz. About 40 artists who had signed up to take part in Open Studios were not impacted by the fire, Ugoretz said. Some, like Ugoretz herself, have studios in parts of the Van Brunt Street warehouse that were unaffected by the blaze. Many others are scattered around the neighborhood, from the waterfront to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway."

Red Hook Open Studios will proceed Oct. 11-12 despite a five-alarm fire at 481 Van Brunt St. on Sept. 18 that destroyed dozens of studios and hundreds of artworks. Many artists lost everything and surviving studios suffered water and mold damage that make them unsafe. Approximately 40 participating artists were not impacted and will show work across unaffected parts of the warehouse and the neighborhood. A Rebuild Gallery at a waterfront space will feature about 50 pieces from artists affected by the fire. Some artists are exhibiting saved or borrowed works, while others created new pieces.

Read at Brooklyn Paper