🎨 Painted Bride’s next act | Morning Newsletter
And strolling the Southeast Asian Market stalls.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
It’s Friday, Philly, and likely a sunny one.
The mosaic-clad former site of the Painted Bride Art Center in Old City is scheduled to be demolished to make way for apartments and commercial space. But the Painted Bride organization has a new home, and big plans for the future.
And the Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park is almost done for the year. Take a virtual stroll through the stalls with this sights-and-sounds interactive.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
P.S. Friday means trivia. Our latest news quiz includes questions on Philly Music Fest, a locally set Netflix series, and more.
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The beloved former Painted Bride HQ is set to be demolished next month after years of legal fights and shifting redevelopment plans. A six-story building with 85 apartments plus commercial space on the first floor is set to be constructed in its place.
🎨 For more than 25 years, the building was wrapped in the center’s signature 7,000-square-foot mural created by mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar. In 2023, volunteers with the Zagar-founded Philadelphia Magic Gardens removed portions of the mural to be repurposed. Developer Shimi Zakin said he hopes to incorporate pieces into his new building.
Read more about the fate of 230 Vine St.
📷 In the years since moving out of the now-doomed building, the Painted Bride Art Center nonprofit has been making its own big changes. As of last month, it’s based in a two-story project space in East Parkside. The new hub has room for showcasing arts in different media, as well as hosting community forums and an inaugural artist residency.
🎤 And it comes at another moment of big change for the organization, as its leader of 26 years prepares to step down.
Learn why the org’s board chair calls the new space “a turning point.”
P.S. The Inquirer’s fall arts guide is here, with more to come through the weekend. Get excited for these 11 jazz shows, plan to see one of these 10 big-name comedy shows, and add these eight books by Philly authors to your TBR list. Plus, see the retrospective at Doylestown’s Michener Art Museum that engulfs you in its shadows.
If you’ve ever visited Philly’s Southeast Asian Market, you know it’s a feast for the senses. It’s also a haven for the city’s Cambodian, Lao, Thai, and Indonesian communities.
The market is perhaps best known for its offerings of flavorful charred meat, deep-fried snacks, and made-to-order sugarcane juice. You can find much more than food there, though, including toys, houseplants, traditional clothing, homemade condiments, and fresh produce.
Tour the sights and sounds of the South Philadelphia destination. If your mouth gets to watering, be sure to visit before the end of the season on Oct. 25.
What you should know today
Two people were struck by SEPTA trains and a trolley was hit by overhead wires in three separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday.
The three men convicted in the Lower Merion home invasion that left a man dead and his mother paralyzed were sentenced Thursday to life in prison.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris brought her book tour to the Met Thursday night telling the Philly audience, “You guys are part of the story.” Earlier in the day, Harris visited an Old City spice shop, where she dried some tears. And in “bellwether” Bucks County, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity Thursday night brought her gubernatorial campaign and critiques of Gov. Shapiro.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday sued Pennsylvania in an attempt to force the state to provide its full, unredacted voter registration database to the federal government.
Parents of transgender children have joined Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s legal fight to stop federal authorities from getting medical records.
Philly City Council members formally slammed President Donald Trump in two separate votes Thursday, even as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has avoided loudly criticizing the president.
The Philadelphia School Board on Thursday confirmed Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.’s contract extension, renewed charters and heard about shortages in services for students with disabilities.
About 150,000 Pennie customers could be priced out of their health plans in 2026 if Congress lets current tax credits expire at the end of the year.
A record 14 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States. Getting legal status is harder than you think.
Welcome back to Curious Philly Friday. We’ll feature both new and timeless stories from our forum for readers to ask about the city’s quirks.
This week, we have an explainer from reporter Nick Vadala on the history of The Troc, aka the theater at 10th and Arch that closed in 2019. The entity that owns the building got a $2.5 million grant toward its revival in 2022, but it hasn’t been used yet.
What’s to come of the storied former venue? Here’s what we know now.
Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.
🧠 Trivia time
Part of University of the Arts’ collection of rare prints and books was acquired by the Philadelphia appraisal firm Freeman’s | Hindman. Which of these was not part of the auction lot?
A) A Pablo Picasso-signed first edition of Picasso
B) A first edition of Josef Albers’ artist portfolio Die Oberflache
C) Test photographs by Annie Leibovitz
D) An initialed copy of Andy Warhol’s autobiography, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
☁️ Remembering: When 6abc weatherman Jim O’Brien died while skydiving on this week in Philly history.
🦨 Wondering: Why Delco (literally) stinks (again).
🏀 Noting: Which Sixers (past and present) cracked ESPN’s list of the top 100 players.
🚆 Recapping: "What the f— happened to SEPTA?"
📉 Considering: Philadelphia’s real yet fragile progress in reducing gun violence.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Kensington nonprofit
INVENTION TOPPER
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Rachel Wilus, who solved Thursday’s anagram: City Hall. PennDot began construction on bike lanes around the municipal building and Dilworth Plaza this week, even as City Council has not formally approved the project.
Photo of the day
🍺 One last empty thing: Pour one out for Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant. The craft-brewing pioneer and a family-friendly mainstay in the Philly suburbs has abruptly closed all its locations after nearly 30 years.
All good things must come to an end, and so, too, must this edition of the morning newsletter. But the weekend will surely bring more news — and more emails. ‘Til we meet again in your inbox, be well.
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