INTERVIEW: The Philly Stoop

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INTERVIEW BY: Lianna Platzner

PHOTO BY: Morgan Medl @morganmedlphoto

Lianna: Tell me about yourself! Who are you? 

Juls: My name is Julia Cheresko, but I go by Juls & I have she/her pronouns. I’m 21 and I’m a full-time content creator, media manager, and event coordinator. 

Lianna: What is the Philly Stoop? What do you do? 

Juls: The Stoop is a community of artists that come together for monthly block concerts and art marts in an effort to share their art and support each other. As the founder of The Stoop, I work on a lot of the behind-the-scenes. I coordinate the entire art mart as well as the social media. I also create all of the content for it, including the promotional flyers, branding and logos, and video content.

Lianna: Why and how did you start the Stoop? What inspired you? Why do you continue? What is the overall goal? 

Juls: After nearly a year of booking and coordinating all of the shows for an old venue called “Domos Barn,” and debuting art marts into the DIY music scene— some unfortunate circumstances forced me to leave The Barn behind. For a while, I felt discouraged and had no desire to start up my own venue. All of my content and the platform I grew was taken away from me, and I felt like I was left with nothing. But after multiple artists reached out to express how much they loved and missed the art marts and shows, I decided to start from the ground up. It felt selfish to take away such an amazing and accepting community from so many artists and art lovers.

I decided to call it The Stoop (@philly.stoop) and I launched the Instagram page on July 13th. My goal was to bring everyone back to experience the block shows how I’ve always envisioned them—safe, welcoming, and uplifting. I also have a goal to bring art marts into different venues during the cold off-season that The Stoop isn’t running during. 

Lianna: Where do you imagine the Stoop being in a few years? What are your hopes for your collective? 

Juls: It’s hard to say right now. I’m currently undergoing a very transitional year in my life and have some big decisions to make. I may be moving off the block. But, I feel like the stoop belongs on N Carlisle St.—it feels like home. So even if I go, the stoop will stay. All I know is that we have a huge spring and summer season to look forward to! 

Lianna: What are your thoughts on the Philly DIY music scene? What do you think makes the scene so special? 

I love the Philly DIY scene. And after diving into it with little music knowledge (but lots of appreciation) I was still accepted with open arms once I launched The Stoop. The scene accepts and welcomes every type of artist, and that’s why it’s so special. The women in the scene are growing stronger and multiplying as the days go by. And I feel like the scene has been doing an exceptionally good job at holding people accountable for their poor actions. Hate is never tolerated in the DIY scene. 

Lianna: Anything else you want to add!!

Juls: On top of coordinating the art mart, I also sell vintage clothes and house goods at a booth during the marts! And I wouldn’t be able to do that at all if it wasn’t for the entire team of people I work with to pull these events off! All of my best friends help me run my stand, run the entry table and donation stations, and do all of the heavy lifting. (literally… they carry my vintage goods and band gear!) And for the last 2 shows, I’ve been working with Kyle Ciarrocchi from the Philadelphia Psychedelic to coordinate the music side of the stoop shows. He’s been a huge help and has brought such a fantastic team of musicians, sound technicians, and visual artists on board. 

The Stoop also does a lot of local fundraising and collaborations with Temple clubs. I recently hosted an art mart in the Temple Community Garden and raised $555 for them, which doubled their yearly annual budget! We also raised $320 for the Temple Cats Club from the pay-as-you-wish entry donations! And for our last show of the season on 11/19, we collected clothes, food, and personal care items for Project Home, a local shelter in the Philly area.