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  • Fire plus art don't mix

    You all remember the thread I put up last year about building my own art studio/apartment here in Boston.

    Things have been rather crazy these last few weeks and I wanted to make sure anyone that might care hears it from me instead of through the grapevine and knows that I’m fine. If you're wondering why I didn't post this before... lets just say I've been a little out of it.

    On December 29th at 3 am the apartment next to our studio caught fire. Everyone got out of the building safely, including my two cats and the fire department came quickly. They put the fire out extremely quickly. However, in order to do so they tore down the wall between our studio and the apartment in question. Additionally, they broke every window in the studio to let out the smoke. Late the next day we were allowed back in to get some clothes and assess the damage. For about a week we didn’t even know if we’d even be allowed to move back into the building. As it turns out we will be able to move back into the building but it will likely be a month before we get to. The landlord now has to bring the building up to code and make the city of Boston happy on every count. With an old building in Boston that can take a lot of work, this goes double for a converted factory building like ours.

    The support my roommates and I have received from everyone has been amazing. Within hours of the fire we had numerous places to stay until we knew more (Thanks Gurm!!!). My parents were down that very day to take the cats back up to Maine while I figured out what was going on and hopped from futon to futon. A benefit show was put together by a friend of ours at one of the local clubs, Great Scott, this last Tuesday. All proceeds were to go to Pan9, our neighbors who had the fire and had lost a great deal. When they came forward to accept them they said they had already had more support from so many directions they couldn’t accept this. They knew they weren’t the only ones affected by the fire and said the proceeds were instead to go to Claymonkey Studio to help our own rebuilding and moving our projects forward.

    Aside from the missing wall and windows most of our damage has been from water. Very little personal property was damaged in the fire and I thankfully have renter’s insurance. Unfortunately, the wall that was torn down was also where the storage from the drawing group I’ve been running was. Many of the people coming to the group stored their supplies and drawing at the studio and almost all of them were destroyed.


    If you’re interested I’m also including links to articles about the fire. Pictures I took and the old website that I was updating back when I was building the place and need to completely revamp.

    http://www.claymonkey.net – the old site
    http://www.flickr.com/gp/35657458@N00/JB5B41 - pictures from the fire (if the walls are purple I’ve moved into Pan9)
    articles:

    Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
    ________________________________________________

    That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

  • #2
    That's right folks, he's a vagrant! Indigent, even. Temporarily transient.

    Ok, there. I got it out of my system. Seriously though, the place is a wreck! Go ahead and PM him to find out how the fire started! No, wait. Don't do that, he'd never answer all the PM's. Stay tuned, instead!
    The Internet - where men are men, women are men, and teenage girls are FBI agents!

    I'm the least you could do
    If only life were as easy as you
    I'm the least you could do, oh yeah
    If only life were as easy as you
    I would still get screwed

    Comment


    • #3
      Right... how it started. The building is an old factory as you know. Artist's live there. WE did an awesome job with our place but the unit next to ours has crap for wiring. The fire started from a box fan catching fire and then catching clothes on fire. The box fan was run off of 2-3 25' heavy duty extension cords.

      So now the landlord has to bring the building completely up to code before any of us can move back in. If any of you know how Boston works it's like this. Boston is full of OLD buildings. When you buy a building you don't have to bring it up to current code standards unless you spend a certain % of the buildings worth in renovations. SO, what most landlords do is only do so much work on a building a year so they don't have to. Retrofitting a building in Boston can be pricey. However, with something like a fire to get your occupancy permit back you will now have to make the city of Boston happy by bringing it up to code. So while it sucks that I can't live there I WILL be in a safer place. For instance. The building had a sprinkler system and emergency exit lights (old factory after all). It didn't have a single smoke detector in it though (I honestly thought it did, misremembered).
      Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
      ________________________________________________

      That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

      Comment


      • #4
        Wow, glad you're alright. Guess I missed the part before about you living in Boston. I'm west of the city in the suburbs by 495/290.
        Yeah lucky it had a sprinkler system... most of the old buildings in the city don't have that. Usually updating an old building to code in Boston involves knowing the right people and whose pockets to grease

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        • #5
          crazy! Glad everyone is OK and that a lot of people are pitching in to lend a hand Damn, makes my post seem trivial now.
          Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by rylan View Post
            Wow, glad you're alright. Guess I missed the part before about you living in Boston. I'm west of the city in the suburbs by 495/290.
            Yeah lucky it had a sprinkler system... most of the old buildings in the city don't have that. Usually updating an old building to code in Boston involves knowing the right people and whose pockets to grease
            Man... you are close. Maybe we should plan an New England get together before to long. At the very least we have that trip to Canada went a certain hairy big foot comes to this continent.

            The sprinkler system caused TONS of damage on its own but yeah I'm glad it's there. Like I said it was an textile factory back in the day before it was art lofts. Greased palms however as far as codes go wouldn't suprise me though.
            Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
            ________________________________________________

            That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Helevitia View Post
              crazy! Glad everyone is OK and that a lot of people are pitching in to lend a hand Damn, makes my post seem trivial now.
              Everyone has been awesome.. As for your post being trivial... pffft whatever. People keep saying that they were feeling down but hey it's nothing versus what I just went through. I got this from one of my best friends who walked away from a rolled jeep accident two weeks ago. It's not a contest, even if it was it's all relative. I will say this though. I was in a funk before the fire. Now... I'm happier and more looking forward to the future than ever. Life does put life in perspective at times.
              Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
              ________________________________________________

              That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

              Comment


              • #8
                Looking forward to no longer having frozen shampoo does that to a fellow
                “And, remember: there's no 'I' in 'irony'” ~ Merlin Mann

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Jessterw View Post
                  Looking forward to no longer having frozen shampoo does that to a fellow
                  True that!!!! (I've been living out of my car mostly and that leads to such events happening)
                  Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
                  ________________________________________________

                  That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Glad no one got hurt, sorry about the situation
                    Hope it's not as cold there as it is here, the pipes in the biulding would have already burst.
                    Yeah, well I'm gonna build my own lunar space lander! With blackjack aaaaannd Hookers! Actually, forget the space lander, and the blackjack. Ahhhh forget the whole thing!

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                    • #11
                      What a start to the year! I am full of admiration with the way you seem to have coped though and the community pulled together. Best of luck and I really hope you keep the momentum going... If I ever get to visit Boston again I'd love to come and have a look
                      DM says: Crunch with Matrox Users@ClimatePrediction.net

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                      • #12
                        Thanks guys. We are planning on making the place better than before and take some of the insurance money and the money from the benefit to kick start the projects even further.

                        -Drawing group: Need a new futon and rug for the model. New lights and I'm going to throw a pizza/beer party were we build drawing horses and easels. I'm also going to do my best to advertise it even more than I did to get the numbers up and consistent. It's a great way to meet other artists and having a weekly drawing group keeps the studio clean by simple need.

                        -Welding: We are going to put in the proper ventilation system, welding screens, welding table and fire extinguishers. Part of the reason not a lot of sculpture has been made there yet is the inability to weld safely (fire by the neighors just reinforces that). If my pieces aren't direct metal they need a metal armature inside of them.

                        -Projector: Of course we want it for entertainment purposes but we know a decent chunk of people in the independant/school film circles. We want to start hosting regular short film events where film makers can show of their work and if they win say they won a competition at 'Rock City Screening" (tentative name under Claymonkey umbrella. Allston is known as Allston Rock City from all the bands that come out of it)
                        Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
                        ________________________________________________

                        That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Hmm, didn't notice this thread till today, (probably cause I don't own a computer yet ) anyways, glad your ok and that everything is working out. Good to see that you have a positive disposition despite everything.
                          Titanium is the new bling!
                          (you heard from me first!)

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by ZokesPro View Post
                            Hmm, didn't notice this thread till today, (probably cause I don't own a computer yet ) anyways, glad your ok and that everything is working out. Good to see that you have a positive disposition despite everything.
                            If you don't laugh your cry right? Hey! At least it didn't happen on Christmas I'm just glad I hadn't put the cat carriers away after the holidays. Now... if they had condemned the building I think I'd be a bit of a mess. After all that work the loft feels more like home than anywhere I've ever lived, and as a military brat with wanderlust there have been a few places.
                            Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
                            ________________________________________________

                            That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Your a military brat too? Haha!

                              Yeah, when you find a decent place you tend to get attached to it, especially if you put a lot of work into it to make it feel more comfortable. Hope everything goes back to normal soon.
                              Titanium is the new bling!
                              (you heard from me first!)

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