Rue Ste. Marthe                                   

May, 2003. Once upon a dreary, wet Sunday spring day I looked out the window, or more accurately, from our 13th floor apartment, the sky looked in at me.  A bit of sunshine was finally chasing away the dreary clouds.  Needing some fresh air, Paul and I headed out for a Sunday stroll along the Canal St Martin.  We figured on having a café too--we are in Paris, after all.  Rather then head straight to the canal we detoured to check out a plaza in the bordering neighborhood of Belleville: Saint Martha Plaza.  A tent created from colorful tapestries took up most of the plaza.  An empty stage, protected by a plastic tarp, waited for Algerian dancers and singers.  Middle Eastern music filled the air.  Hmmm, not our thing.    

We headed down a narrow street, Rue Sainte Marte, and discovered an open art gallery/studio.  How odd on a Sunday, most everything should be closed.  A flyer caught my eye.  The flyer invited us to visit art studios in Belleville and included a map marking dozens of open studios.   Map in hand, off we went.  We didn't have to go far, as it turns out, the narrow street we walked along had at least 10 studios open to the public.  Most had been garages or storage spaces in another life.  Some had been creatively converted into living spaces besides studio spaces.   The studios were open, light and airy.  The spaces tended to be divided by curtains rather than walls.  Sometimes the spaces were expanded with lofts.  The minimal furniture was just as you’d expect – old, lumpy couches, beat-up tables, resin chairs.  A couple of the studios had small, protected patio gardens.  I never saw a bathroom but most of the studios seemed to have running water.  Two monumental sculpture studios were in an old industrial factory where you could still see the heavy duty steel beams and fixtures used to move heavy equipment within the factory.

The viewing crowds tended to be in their 30s and 40s.  Most of the artists and guests were French (rather than immigrants from Africa or Asia or...) but we did hear English spoken now and again.   The majority of visitors, like us, visited the studios more out of curiosity to see who might be up and coming in the Parisian art world rather than to buy.  The artists stayed a discreet distance from the visitors.  When I particularly liked some work, I’d try to find the artist and let him/her know.  I figure exposing your art and often your home to anyone and everyone takes courage.

 We saw talent out there.  One sculpture that caught my attention was a ‘wiggling’ fish created out of large chunks of stones.  The wiggling fish sharply contrasted from the metal, cage-like support holding the stones in place.  Another whimsical piece had a viewfinder you could look through…and what did you see?  Your own eye mirrored back to you.  One woman created delicate table lamps.  From sheer, pastel colored, handmade paper she created ‘flower-like lamp shades’ that hung from organic looking metal forms. 

After visiting about 15 studios we were ready for our coffee break.  Heading back toward home we first took advantage of doing some grocery shopping in Belleville’s Chinatown.  Then we finally had our coffee at a friendly café not too far from home.  And the canal?  Maybe some other Sunday.

  Vicki