Red Hook artists forge on in face of fire

Six months have passed since a fire devastated Red Hook’s artist community. The fire that raged on Sept. 17 and 18 tore through the warehouse at the end of Van Brunt Street, displacing hundreds of artists and destroying decades of work, tools, and a space to work in.

However, the community lives on in its monthly meetings co-organized by Megan Suttles and the Red Hook Business Alliance, most recently at the Jalopy Tavern, where easily two to three dozen artists showed up Thursday, March 12.

Megan Suttles founded Hot Wood Arts sixteen years ago. It’s been housed in Red Hook since 2012 and is one of several artist collectives based out of the burned-down warehouse. Over the years, despite the incredible things Hot Wood Arts were doing, Suttles felt a lack of community among the many artists working in the warehouses on the waterfront. Although they hosted open studios every year in the fall for artists to meet each other, she nevertheless felt something was missing. Red Hook Open Studios is one of the largest annual events in Red Hook, yet the only consistent negative feedback from participating artists was that they remained confined to their own studios during the event, limiting their opportunity to connect and engage with one another.

So, in March of 2025, Suttles began co-organizing socials for artists of all disciplines and professions across Red Hook to mingle and meet each other, calling it Second Thursdays Artist Hang Out. Initially the get-togethers were at the same location, but they have since diversified to float between various pubs, taverns, and bars throughout the neighborhood, with a different locale each month. The get-togethers have continued, even in the wake of the fire, and have been invaluable for the community, say various artists.

“Life keeps going, it turns out,” said Rainy Lehrman, Hot Wood Arts’ wood shop genius. Lehrman has been with Hot Wood Arts since the beginning, and is an artist, designer, and fabricator. Lehrman lost her studio following the fire, but a gracious patron is allowing her to use a space in South Slope as a studio until she finishes her current project. “I think about things missing every day,” she said, like her appliances and tools to seeing fellow artist Abby Weinberg’s dog.

Sean Naftel, an artist, and manager at the Center for Jewish History, feels acceptance regarding the fire. Sean works with broken ceramics, which are not something that can be left lying around the house, as their danger is comparable to that of broken glass. As such, he is rather limited in what artwork he can make at home, lacking a new studio space. Sean’s partner, Grayson Schmidt, works in jewelry, and has set up a makeshift studio in their living space.

Not all artists at the event were necessarily affiliated with Hot Wood Arts, and had simply come for the community, having heard about the gatherings through the Red Hook Business Alliance. Cordelia Stephens, a painter originally from Oxford, England, had never heard about Hot Wood Arts until after the fire. Stephens specializes in paintings of contemporary life, and has done paintings of Brooklyn bars, some of which Second Thursdays Artist Hang Out has hosted meetings at previously.

Bill Delaney doesn’t work with Hot Wood Arts, but works at a finishing business, Delaney Finishing, on another pier on the waterfront, Waterfront Workshops. Delaney specializes in figurative drawings on the side and is a longtime Star Wars fan. He was at an appointment in the Manhattan when the fire broke out and quickly returned to his workplace in Red Hook, from which he could see the fire burning. The warehouse was still ablaze when he left to go home that night. Now, Delaney is one of many other artists happily chatting over burgers and fries at the monthly artist get-togethers.

Matías Kalwill is a Normanist, aspiring time machine engineer, cartophile/cartographer, history and geology enthusiast, and a regular at the gatherings. Kalwill said he has never missed a meeting, except for when he has.

Meanwhile, for Edward, an artist based out of the nearby Sweet Lorraine Gallery, it was his first time at one of the events—however, like nearly all the other non-Hot Wood artists present, he had heard about it from the Red Hook Business Alliance.

Life in Red Hook goes on, even in the face of displacement. One artist refused to talk about the fire or his work, citing a continued sense of denial. Many others commented on the fact that they still have yet to find new studios, half a year after being displaced.

“We’re miserable,” said Lehrman.

“I haven’t made work in six months,” said Suttles. The two then added that the sense of community generated by the artist get-togethers have been invaluable in helping them pull through in these difficult times.

Suttles said that Hot Wood Arts continues to look for a new space and intends to stay as close to Red Hook as possible. “This community’s giving everyone hope.”