If you missed the first weekend of Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, there is another busy weekend of art exploration just around the corner. What is Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST)? Essentially, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours is an organized pair of weekends at the beginning of October, in which a wide array of professional artists open their doors to visitors and the public. Come to see what is newest in Philadelphia’s diverse and cutting-edge art community and get to speak with the artists directly.

This coming weekend, Oct. 15 through 16, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours will be open to locations east of Broad Street. That, of course, includes the bustling Fishtown section of the city and the areas near Temple University full of young, emerging artists, as well as some of the more established artists in Center City and Old City. There is certainly a wide range of possibilities. Philadelphia Open Studio Tours also offers guided tours and a directory of participating artists.

One event worth checking out is Alison Stigora’s “Crossing Jordan” at 2424 Studios. This solo show, in coordination with the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA), is a site-specific installation which opens on Friday, Oct. 14 from 7 to 10 p.m., just in time for Philadelphia Open Studio Tours’s second weekend. Stigora’s material of choice in this exhibit is burnt wood, representative of survival, rebirth and renewal. She weaves and connects wood that has been charred into large, sculptural works, such as “Whirlwind” pictured below. The burning by fire creates unique characteristics and colors that are unachievable elsewhere in nature. Fire also represents ash and new beginnings, like the Phoenix of ancient mythology.

Whether you plan to check out Stigora’s primal and visceral installation, there are plenty of other visual artists’ studios open throughout the course of the weekend. There is a show at the Asian Arts Initiative and a multimedia installation by Jessica Hoffman, entitled “Forever and After,” just to name a few.

If you have some time this weekend to journey around Philly’s studio community, make sure you visit the website first. There are plenty of details and locations on the site that will make your studio tours fun and successful.

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours happen all across the city, but its website is here: www.philaopenstudios.com.