🏫 10 years of Bok’s transformation | Morning Newsletter

Welcome to a new week, Philly. Good news for fall foliage fans: September’s cooler weather may bring a slightly sooner start to the turning of the region’s leaves.

At the Bok building’s 10th anniversary, developer Scout is celebrating what has worked in transforming the former South Philly school into a hub for creatives and small businesses ahead of the model’s expansion to South Broad Street.

And local “rapid response” activists are following U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to raids, then standing up for immigrants during arrests.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

Not everyone thought Bok, the shuttered technical high school-turned-commercial building for artists and small businesses, would succeed. Indeed, some wanted it to fail — especially those who saw the South Philly project as a clear symbol of gentrification.

🏫 A decade later, the model is emulated by developers across the city. The makerspace is full, with more than 200 tenants, and Philadelphians still flock to the building’s rooftop bar and event space.

🏫 Lindsey Scannapieco, the founder of Scout, the company that redeveloped the Bok building, attributes its success partly to being an affordable, flexible entry point for new entrepreneurs.

🏫 Next up, Scout aims to replicate that success at two former University of the Arts buildings in Center City.

Commercial real estate reporter Jake Blumgart has more on Bok’s economic impact, 10 years in.

In response to an uptick in ICE activity, rapid-response teams in Philadelphia and its suburbs are dispatching immigration activists to protest raids as they are happening.

The volunteer groups aim to record agents and show support for those being arrested, such as during this summer’s raid at the Super Gigante food market in West Norriton. They also set up county-level hotlines to collect reports of ICE vehicle sightings.

“They’re trying to do this quietly, they’re trying to do this when nobody is watching,” a Montgomery County Watch organizer said, of ICE agents’ activity. “The citizens are front line right now.”

But such confrontations are “inherently risky,” as one expert put it.

Immigration reporter Jeff Gammage has the story.

Further reading: Philly native James A. Williams Jr. is president of the 140,000-member International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which counts many immigrants and descendants of immigrants among its members. He spoke to The Inquirer about the impact of Trump administration plans for mass deportations of workers.

Task is the latest of several locally set shows to attempt to accurately portray accents, hotspots, and cultural references. And some scenes do take place in the city. But creator Brad Ingelsby, who also created Mare of Easttown and was raised in Berwyn, wants to make it clear: This is a Delco story.

P.S. We mapped all the Philly and Philly-adjacent locations seen in the first episode, which dropped Sunday night.

Which wellness trend is gaining popularity in Philadelphia, as evidenced by an uptick in public events?

A) Microdosing

B) Yoga retreats

C) Digital detoxing

D) Sound baths

Think you know? Check your answer.

🍝 Wondering: What Gov. Josh Shapiro and director M. Night Shyamalan talked about while dining at Borromini.

🥣 Anticipating: Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ Wheaties cereal box.

🛏️ Touring: These designer dorms at Villanova, Temple, and West Chester Universities.

🦅 Already analyzing: The Birds’ Week 2 matchup against the Chiefs.

⚕️ Considering: What it means to be a pregnant Black woman in the U.S.

Hint: Not just cheeseless pizza

PATIO MOTE

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Colleen Davis, who solved Sunday’s anagram: Saquon Barkley. His new documentary was five years in the making. It premieres on Prime Video next month.

I was delighted to learn that Shaggy got Sting to sing along to his risqué hit “It Wasn’t Me” during the pair’s One Fine Day fest on Saturday. Music critic Dan DeLuca has more from this year’s only-in-Philly reggae party.

Think back to the night that changed your life that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, something that made you fall in love with Philly all over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.

This “only in Philly” story comes from reader John Salvest, a local artist who describes a fortuitous reunion:

My story begins 10 years ago, when I was invited to an artist’s residency in the printmaking department at the University of the Arts, where I was to create a print edition assisted by the program’s wonderful faculty and staff. That experience, coupled with enjoyable earlier visits to the city with my dear friend and Philadelphia lawyer Paul Kahn, convinced me that I should relocate to this area when I retired from university teaching.

The project, a tongue-in-cheek take on Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup cans, was inspired by the fact that there is an Estonian soup company with which I share the name “Salvest.” Fueled by the half-joking proposition that the concept would take Warhol’s brazen experiment a step further, Salvest Soup jars would faithfully reproduce the packaging of the company’s various products.

For several days, I worked with a master printer on the top floor of Anderson Hall but, unfortunately, scheduling restraints prevented the project from reaching completion. When I moved to Philadelphia in spring of 2020, my intention was to contact the department to resume the project. First COVID, then the abrupt closing of UArts, thwarted my plans. Not being a faculty member or student, I was now unsure how to inquire about the fate of my work-in-progress.

Recently, I learned from The Inquirer about reclamation company Thunderbird Salvage’s noble effort to recover artworks left behind. One goal was to reunite artists with their lost work. That the prints would have survived and somehow made it to Thunderbird Hall seemed like a long shot. But, then again, this is Philly, so I headed to Kensington to look for buried treasure. Scrounging around the piles of retrieved materials, I was shocked to find some of the plates and proofs. “Only in Philly,” indeed!

I recall a memorable conversation at my exhibition in St. Louis years ago with the great Anne d’Harnoncourt about Duchamp’s Rrose Selavy luggage tags. That encounter, along with this recent turn of events, have led me to believe that I was destined to end up in Philadelphia. Destiny or not, outcomes like the one I just experienced, thanks to the generosity of spirit of true Philadelphians like George Mathes and the rescue team at Thunderbird Salvage, make this artist proud to now call Philly home.

Wishing you a day of good luck and strong connections. See you back here tomorrow.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.