BOK OPEN STUDIOS RETURNS MAY 8

Friday, May 8, 2026

Free, Open to the Public, Family-friendly

(PHILADELPHIA) — April 20, 2026 — Today, the Bok Building announced that its spring Open Studios event will take place on Friday, May 8, 2026, from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. Free and open to the public, the biannual event invites visitors to explore all nine floors of the building and experience firsthand the breadth of its working creative community. More than 75 businesses, artists, and organizations call Bok home — among them painters, glassblowers, ceramicists, bakers, jewelers, musicians, designers, and photographers. Open Studios is one of the few nights each year when the full building activates at the same time — many studios that otherwise maintain limited or no public hours open their doors, offering visitors a rare chance to experience the full range of makers shaping Philadelphia's cultural landscape at Bok and experience the community up close.

Highlights of the evening include a dynamic lineup of activities and experience:

Attendees can also shop exclusive Bok merchandise and visit the Community Food Hall in the West Gym, featuring local favorites like Bok Bar’s mobile pop up bar, South Philly Barbacoa, Pecel Ndeso, Taqueria Morales, Simply Kate’s, Babalouie BBQ, and Darnel’s Cakes—all set to a live mix of tunes set by DJ Lady Problems.

Bok’s rooftop Sicilian restaurant, Irwin’s, will be taking dinner reservations all night, and Bok Bar will be open (no reservation required), with food partner Tabachoy.

The main entrance to Open Studios is 1901 S. 9th Street. Doors at 821 Mifflin, 821 Dudley Street and 800 Mifflin Street will also be open. This event is all ages, but if you are 21+ and plan to drink, you’ll need to show your ID at the door.

See the full list of participating studios at www.buildingbok.com/open-studios. ​

ABOUT BOK

The Bok Building in South Philadelphia stands as a powerful model of adaptive reuse and mission-driven development. The project transformed a 1936 historic vocational high school into a thriving, nine-story hub for creativity, entrepreneurship, and community life. Led by Scout, the project reimagines the school’s original infrastructure— terrazzo floors, lockers, and shop equipment—were preserved through a light-touch renovation that prioritizes accessibility, affordability, and cultural continuity.

Today, Bok is home to over 200 tenants, including artists, nonprofits, creative small businesses, and manufacturers. Former classrooms now house everything from clarinet repairers to tattoo studios, while the ground-floor WKSHP marketplace—formerly the auto shop—buzzes with activity from a bakery, ceramics studios, a coffee shop, artisan boutiques, and more.

Scout’s flexible leasing model has enabled remarkable tenant growth: between 2015 and 2018, 49 tenants expanded their space, with an average increase of 125.7%—proof of the model’s capacity to nurture small-scale enterprise in place. Even after reaching 100% occupancy by 2019, tenants continued to scale through internal moves, space-sharing, and collaborations, reinforcing the ecosystem’s adaptability and durability. Today, over 60% of Bok’s tenants are women- or minority-owned, far surpassing industry norms and affirming Scout’s commitment to equity as both a social and economic imperative.

The building’s rooftop venues—Bok Bar and Irwin’s, an award-winning Sicilian restaurant—along with community events, biannual Open Studios, and civic programming, have turned Bok into a destination as much as a workspace. This balance of public and private, of heritage and innovation, is central to Scout’s philosophy: by centering affordability, creative opportunity, and cultural value, Bok is more than a building—it’s a living, evolving community resource. www.buildingbok.com // www.scout-ltd.com // @buildingbok