Fire ravages South River Art Studios, displacing artists

In the predawn early morning hours of Wednesday, November 12, a tragedy began to unfold at the South River Art Studios. A spark, then raging flames, followed by smoke and soot, overtook multiple artist studios in the sprawling arts facility in South Atlanta. 

South River Art Studios, a conversion project of 4 acres of unused land and multiple warehouses turned artist studios, gallery and event spaces, has been a mainstay in the local art scene for the better part of the last decade. A litany of local artists occupy the studio spaces there, and the property also presents exhibitions, open studios events, markets and more.

Owner and sculptor Phil Proctor, who moved his studio there about 10 years ago when the complex was just a warehouse with a variety of tenants, brought multiple artist friends to join him. Three years later, he bought the property and renamed it South River Art Studios. “We decided that we wanted to be surrounded by other artists and creativity, so we opened South River Art Studios and made a home for other artists that they could know is going to be there and not get sold out, as so many spaces do,” said Proctor.  

South River Art Studios currently houses around 45 artist studios, some of whom share spaces and workshops. In the main building, En Masse, a group show featuring 20 local printmakers, was on view through December.

The property is composed of two main buildings: one a large warehouse space suitable for large-scale sculpture and welding projects and the second considered to be the property’s main building, which is home to the vast majority of studio spaces. The entirety of the main building was affected by the fire, with about 50% of the building seriously damaged, potentially beyond repair. Procter estimates that around 25 to 30 studios were completely destroyed. Fortunately, it was around 4 a.m. when the fire occurred, so no one was present at the time and no injuries were reported. 

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with the building — if it’s salvageable or partially salvageable — but it’s definitely closed until further notice,” said Proctor. “We can’t even turn the power on. There is smoke and water damage in 100% of the building, all over the place. Even the parts that didn’t burn are not habitable at the moment.” 

When asked what comes next, Proctor couldn’t offer much in the way of concrete information. “I can’t imagine what’s going to happen,” he continued. “I speculate that at least half of it will be torn down or gutted.” The insurance and requisite fire inspections will dictate the next steps for the facility’s recovery from the loss.

“Our main concern right now is getting these 30 artists back on their feet, trying to find them other spaces, trying to find ways to salvage what they have and get them back to work. I know that for a lot of these people it’s not just a luxury space — this is their livelihood. That’s the most important thing that we are focused on right now.” 

The South River Art Studios website has been updated to include information about some of the artists whose studios were destroyed. At only two days out, it seems likely that the list of affected artists will certainly grow. For now, all activity at the site has been paused until further notice. Proctor hopes that he will be able to get the power restored at the warehouse today to allow at least some resident artists to return to their work. 

“We are still artists here, we are still working here and we are going to try to keep doing that.” While the artists recalibrate and find new studios and the insurance adjusters investigate, arts lovers across the city can only wait with bated breath. I, for one, sincerely hope that the thriving arts community of South River Art Studios will once again rise from the embers following this terrible loss. 

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Isadora Pennington is senior editor of art + design and dance. An experienced writer and photographer with a deep love for the arts, Isadora founded the Sketchbook newsletter with Rough Draft Atlanta in 2022. She is also president of the avondale Arts Alliance and director of the Avondale Arts Center.