The fire has apparently gone out for the 2,100-square-foot flame- and cold-working shop of Philadelphia Glass Works. courtesy: www.phillyglassworks.com
For Philadelphia’s flameworker community, 2010 got off to a rough start. Earlier today, the owners of 7-year-old nonprofit Philadelphia Glass Works and its younger commercial gallery operation, Silica Galleries, issued an announcement that they would be closing their doors, apparently for good.
Attempts to get further details via telephone and email were unsuccessful in the hours after the news was made public in an email blast. The unsigned email announcement read as follows:
“You know and we know Silica Galleries and Philadelphia Glass Works has been thrown through some rough seas over the past few years. But we truly appreciate your business! We have decided to call it quits and move on to other things, therefore Silica Galleries and Philadelphia Glass Works will no longer be open.”
Philadelphia Glass Works was originally founded by Nathan Purcell and Ian Kerr in 2003, in the West Philadelphia section of the city. They moved to the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia as they expanded and opened a commercial gallery in 2008. The nonprofit and gallery were a bid to take flameworking into sculptural territory, and Silica was an exhibitor at two SOFA CHICAGO fairs, presenting unconventional three-dimensional work informed by science fiction and psychedelia.
While their Philadelphia operations appear to be closed, the announcement states that they will maintain their Williamsburg, Brooklyn, operations. Their recently opened Easy Street Gallery, which exhibits sculpture but also sells high-end borosilicate pipes, will become the focus.
The announcement continues: “We hope to continue working with you there as well as in all our other future endeavors.”
Currently on exhibit at Easy Street is the work of J.A.G. (just another glassblower) in an exhibit that will be open through January 15th, 2010.
For More Information:
Easy Street Gallery 155 Grand Street Brooklyn, NY 11211 Telephone: 718-388-8257 Email: chillin@easystreetbrooklyn.com Website: www.easystreetbrooklyn.com
Easy Street Gallery in Brooklyn is sooo dope. We’re sad that the Philly part of their operations closed their doors, but it gives us an excuse to venture up to NYC.
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