A year after a five-alarm fire destroyed the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition's longtime Red Hook home, the artist-run nonprofit is opening two exhibitions in Sunset Park that members hope will mark a turning point. “One Year Later: New Work, New Perspectives” and “EXCLAIM!” open with a reception Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. at The Whale, a 21,000-square-foot space with 15-foot ceilings at 15 43rd Street.
BWAC, which describes itself as an artist-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that helps artists exhibit and grow professionally according to bwac.org, has been without a permanent location since the fire. BWAC's own materials date the blaze to September 17, 2025; Canarsie Courier and Brooklyn Paper describe it as a five-alarm fire that destroyed or damaged businesses and artists' studios in Red Hook.
A Warehouse Lost, A Lease Terminated
The fire didn't just damage BWAC's space — it made the group's return to Red Hook impossible. The warehouse damage turned out to be worse than anticipated, the building will likely be uninhabitable for years, and BWAC's lease there was terminated, the outlet reported. BWAC President Alicia Degener has said the group would not have been able to afford its old space anyway once rents rose after any eventual reconstruction, and has said plainly that BWAC will not return to Red Hook.
Fire and firefighting water both contributed to the damage, according to the seed reporting. Degener has said she lost about 80% of her body of work and is showing watercolor paintings damaged in the blaze as part of the anniversary exhibition.
A Citywide Space Challenge
The search for a new home reflects a broader challenge for cultural organizations, although the available city record does not provide a citywide count of groups that have lost affordable permanent space. In 2018, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and NYC Economic Development Corporation launched an Affordable Real Estate for Artists initiative to expand affordable artist workspace and assess cultural organizations' space needs, according to the agencies.
Finding Family in the Wreckage
Not every member of the 48-year-old nonprofit responded to the loss the same way. Degener has said some artists stopped creating altogether after the fire, while others pushed through, continuing to make new work in the months since. She has said that artists must keep making art for the sake of their own well-being and mental health, and has described a silver lining amid the devastation: members finding family and friends they didn't know they had.
That community response extended beyond BWAC's own membership. Neighbors rallied around the organization and its mission of providing artists affordable exhibition space, and BWAC has said the outpouring of support from the community and from artists who've shown with the group is what kept it going, per Rockaway Wave. Powerhouse Arts in Gowanus offered free exhibition space for BWAC's first show after the fire, a juried group exhibition called “Unmoored / Unbound” that featured 40 artists and ran from May 22 through August 9, according to Powerhouse Arts.
One of the artists represented in the anniversary exhibition is Hisham Youssef, a Pennsylvania resident who joined BWAC after his work was accepted into several juried shows.
Youssef had about five sculptures at BWAC when the fire began and was able to save them. His “100 Hands” series comprised 50 left and 50 right wooden hands, but the surviving pieces cannot be displayed indoors because mold continues to return, according to the seed reporting. For “One Year Later,” he made 20 new hands from scratch.
A Nominal Fee, A Temporary Home
The Whale is hosting the exhibitions for a nominal fee, but BWAC says the Sunset Park arrangement is temporary. The organization is still looking for a permanent home, according to bwac.org. It has also acknowledged that a new site might draw less foot traffic than the Red Hook warehouse and could require a different operating model, including opening five days a week rather than following its former schedule, according to Brooklyn Paper reporting. As of this spring, BWAC said it hoped to move into a more permanent Brooklyn home by fall 2026, according to News 12 Brooklyn.
“One Year Later: New Work, New Perspectives” brings together BWAC members' work made in the year since the fire. The exhibition asks how artists responded, whether they moved in new directions and what perspectives they gained, according to BWAC's description. Degener has said she hopes it will serve as a bookend to the fire and its aftermath. “EXCLAIM!” runs alongside it as a national juried exhibition focused on works with strong messages or calls to action. Both shows are open weekends from 1 to 6 p.m. through October 18 at The Whale in Sunset Park, according to Canarsie Courier.
The anniversary exhibitions are also a test of whether BWAC can sustain its artist-run model without a permanent address. After the fire, the group mounted “Unmoored / Unbound” at Powerhouse Arts and is now using The Whale for a second exhibition cycle. The venues have changed, but BWAC's stated aim remains the same: giving artists a place to exhibit while members work toward a longer-term home.
