There's good news for those
clamoring for more corner commercial spaces in Graduate Hospital -- Ready to Hand: Saori Philadelphia is set to open at 22nd and Fitzwater along the neighborhood's burgeoning commercial corridor. Local artist and textile expert Leslie Sudock is behind the new venture, which she envisions as a community textile studio. Eventually, the storefront space will be open five days a week for people who want to make art.
"I've been looking for almost eight years to open something like this," says Sudock. "There really isn't much in Philly right now quite like it."
Initially, the studio will hold five to six classes per week for all ages -- toddlers to kids to adults. Programs and classes will also cater to the local homeless population. Sudock is known locally for her homeless advocacy. Her past venture, Arts Street Textile Studio: Handmade with the Homeless (ASTS), was a South Street storefront that taught the homeless and those transitioning from homelessness to weave, knit, sew, crochet and quilt wearable and useable art.
With that storefront now closed, Sudock is looking to bring its energy and ideas to the new space. And, as the name suggests, she plans to offer
Saori, a practice of free-form hand weaving not currently taught in the area.
"I really believe in Saori," says Sudock. "It is amazingly therapeutic."
When Saori and other classes aren’t in session, Sudock plans to display and sell the art created in the studio. She will be open monthly during First Friday.
The sustainability-minded firm
Greensaw Design is currently completing interior work. A grand opening is planned for late September.
Source: Leslie Sudock, Ready to Hand: Saori Philadelphia
Writer:
Greg Meckstroth