Smooth! Artists Concern Re-ups at Time Equities’ Silks Building
By Emily Geminder April 5, 2010 9:24 pm
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37-24 24th Street (Queens)
The Silks Building, longtime design headquarters for the Scalamandré Silks Company, produced handmade silk brocades for everyone from William Randolph Hearst to Jackie Kennedy in her White House redecoration campaign. While the silk company has since relocated much of its manufacturing from the 1938 Queens building to a modern textile plant in South Carolina, new tenants have found other uses for the space.
On the top floor, a partnership between four artists has leased 7,000 square feet for studio and gallery space. Beneath saw-toothed ceilings and expansive skylights, Perfect Studios, comprised of Barbara Ellmann, Cora Jane Glasser, Juan Iribarren and Patrick Webb, created eight distinct studios, four of which they sublease for galleries and showings. Ms. Glasser said the group’s recent renewal was spurred by the building’s “perfect environment for professional artists.”
Francis Greenburger of Time Equities, which purchased and redeveloped the building six years ago, noted: “Perfect Studios put the Silks Building on the map five years ago and we are thrilled that they decided to renew with us. We credit them for helping to establish the Silks Building as the premier creative and professional use incubator in the Long Island City market.”
