Thunderbird Salvage was given a few days of access to Anderson Hall, a former building of the shuttered University of the Arts, to collect nine stories worth of art, books, equipment and more.
The Fishtown-based thrift store's goal is to reunite the artwork with their creators and sell unclaimed materials to the general public in the coming weeks.
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"We at Thunderbird are so happy we have the chance to salvage and rescue as much as possible in this building," the shop posted on Instagram on Tuesday. "We are planning on giving back to the local community and artists affected by the closure with help from the buildings' owners and crew."
Former UArts students who weren't able to access their work prior to the university's abrupt shutdown last year can request it be rescued by sending a direct message on Instagram to @voltoio with an image of the piece.
George Mathes, owner of Thunderbird Salvage, shared that his team was given an extremely tight deadline to retrieve wanted materials from the building before Dwight City Group, the future developer, sends in cleaning crews.
"Our position right now is that we're going to intercept everything that can be reused or repurposed and we're going to make the most of it," Mathes said. "We have permission to save artifacts and useful items, and we're going to work together to make sure they don't throw anything away that's useful."
Dwight City Group representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The New York-based real estate company reportedly paid $8.5 million for the building, which it plans to convert into housing, office spaces and retail storefronts on its ground floors.
While exploring the halls of the bygone studio space, Mathes said "years worth" of oddities were found — everything from abstract paintings to small taxidermy pieces — which will be saved and eventually sold at the store's Thunderbird Hall site, located at 2856 Frankford Ave.
An official UArts sale will be held at Thunderbird Hall on Saturday, Aug. 16. Mathes' goal is to make sure the works are given to good homes.
"People can come out and purchase stuff for an insignificant amount ... we might even give stuff away," Mathes said. "If people find their art, they can have it."
This story has been updated.