Forman Arts Initiative

No weekend plans? Here are a few things our grantees and friends have coming up:

↳ — Opera in the Open, featuring performances by Evan Fleming, Elizabeth Patterson, and Kelly Rubinsohn. May 16.

↳ — Live at Roots Garden, a performance series featuring the Daud El-Bakara trio. May 17.

↳ — Fiesta De Los Jardines, a community celebration across Las Parcelas, Raíces, and La Paz. May 23.

↳ — Print & Sip, an evening of making centered around Charles Mason III’s practice. May 22.

↳ — Seen Issue 010 Launch at the Barnes Foundation. May 28.

↳ — Under the Stars, an outdoor screening of Everybody to Kenmure Street followed by an opening night party at Dahlak Paradise. May 29.

↳ — Open call for short films for Street Movies!, their summer screening series. Submissions open through June 1.

↳ Colette Fu — At Its Root at , opening June 3.

↳ — Hiring a High Performance Generalist.

Meet Building 2.

Originally part of the PECO generating station, the building was sold to Grunewald's Brewing in 1934, then Esslinger's Brewing in 1935. Nearly a century later, After Midnight Brewing tried to bring that energy back — setting up a brewery and game café in the basement in 2020.

In between, it survived a five-alarm fire in 1964. Before FAI, it was home to a martial arts studio, a hair salon, a karaoke bar, and a daycare.

A building shaped by reinvention, community, and many past lives is now beginning another.

Image Descriptions

Slide 1: Video of construction in Building 2
Slide 2: Exterior or Building 2
Side 3: Five-alarm fire, May 31, 1964, Courtesy of Philadelphia Fire Department History

Meet Building 2.

Originally part of the PECO generating station, the building was sold to Grunewald's Brewing in 1934, then Esslinger's Brewing in 1935. Nearly a century later, After Midnight Brewing tried to bring that energy back — setting up a brewery and game café in the basement in 2020.

In between, it survived a five-alarm fire in 1964. Before FAI, it was home to a martial arts studio, a hair salon, a karaoke bar, and a daycare.

A building shaped by reinvention, community, and many past lives is now beginning another.

Image Descriptions

Slide 1: Current exterior of Building 2
Slide 2: Five-alarm fire at 2205 N. American Street, May 31, 1964, Courtesy of Philadelphia Fire Department History
Side 3: Construction In Building 2

The Forman Arts Initiative’s campus spans three buildings on the 2200 block of North American Street. Each one carries its own history.

This is Building 1: the Substation ⚡️

* Built in 1892 by the Northern Electric Light Company, it first powered the surrounding neighborhood before PECO took ownership in 1917, holding the building until 1999

* Over the years, it’s lived many lives — from a woodworking shop to a metal fabrication studio, which eventually transformed the old chimney into the pizza oven you see in slide 3 🍕

We love imagining all the lives this building has held, and all the new memories still being made here.

Building 2 soon.

Image Descriptions

Slide 1 — [Campus exterior]
Slides & 3 — Philadelphia Electric Company's Richmond Power, Library of Congress
Slide 3 — Gathering around the chimney turned pizza oven

The Forman Arts Initiative campus spans three buildings on the 2200 block of North American Street. Each one has a story. This is Building 1 — the Substation.

* Built in 1892 by the Northern Electric Light Company, it started as a generating station — powering the neighborhood before PECO acquired it in 1917 and held it until 1999

* From there it passed through a woodworking shop and a metal fabrication studio, responsible for the chimney that became a pizza oven (see slide 4 🍕)

We love imagining all the lives this building has held, and all the new memories still being made here.

More soon with Building 2.

Image Descriptions
Slide 1 — [Campus exterior]
Slides 2 & 3 — Philadelphia Electric Company's Richmond Power Station, Library of Congress
Slide 4 — Gathering around the chimney turned pizza oven

On Friday, over breakfast AND lunch, the Art Works: Kensington 250 Selection Committee sat down to review the finalists.

184 applications narrowed to 25, and every single one reflected the extraordinary depth of talent rooted here in Kensington.

↳ Not pictured but there in spirit: Luis Cruz and Roberto Lugo 💫

Finalists announcement coming soon. Stay close.

👋 Meet Isabel Kokko!

Designer, registrar, and arts administrator in training — Isabel is the quiet creative force behind what you see from us. From team headshots to art labels, her fingerprints are all over this place. She's always thinking about how design and everyday
interactions shape the way people experience it.

Usually she's the one behind the camera — we're glad we got her in front of it.

—
Image 1: Headshot of Isabel Kokko, FAI team member, smiling at the camera. 

Image 2: A dinner table captured by at a recent cultivation dinner.

Something is happening on N. American street.

Across three buildings each with a deep history of their own, we'll share what came before, what remains, and what we're building together.

Stay close 2027 is coming.

Image: Corner of Forman Arts Initiative campus at 2201 N. American Street, Kensington, Philadelphia.

A few weeks ago, 184 artists from Kensington and surrounding zip codes applied for the Art Works: Kensington 250 Microgrant.

These are the seven people with the meaningful — and not easy — job of reviewing every single one:

↳ Roberto Lugo, ceramic artist and Pew Fellow ()

↳ Jeannine A. Cook, writer, educator, founder of Harriett's and Ida's bookshops () (, )

↳ Nilda Pimentel-Perez, community organizer and Founding President of NSCAN ()

↳ Rafael Damast, curator and Exhibitions Program Director at Taller Puertorriqueño ()

↳ Luis Cruz, entrepreneur, founder of Ride Free and Anti-Violence Program Manager at Impact Services ()

↳ Leann Ayers, Senior Program Officer at Philadelphia Foundation ()

↳ Sunanda Ghosh, Interim Executive Director of FAI

Stay close for Art Works finalists!

A few weeks ago, 184 artists from Kensington and surrounding zip codes applied for the Art Works: Kensington 250 Microgrant. These are the seven people with the meaningful, and not easy, job of reviewing every single one:

↳ Leann Ayers, Senior Program Officer at Philadelphia Foundation ()

↳ Jeannine Cooke, writer, educator, founder of Harriet's and Ida's bookshops () (, )

↳ Luis Cruz, entrepreneur, founder of Ride Free and Anti-Violence Program Manager at Impact Services ()

↳ Rafael Damast, curator and Exhibitions Program Director at Taller Puertorriqueño ()

↳ Sunanda Ghosh, Interim Executive Director of Forman Arts Initiative

↳ Roberto Lugo, ceramic artist and Pew Fellow ()

↳ Nilda Pimentel-Perez, community organizer and Founding President of NSCAN ()