The Atelier Shuffle

One of the challenges of being an artist in Paris is finding affordable atelier space.  By 2010, it had become impossible to work any longer in a tiny corner of our 35 sq. m (377 sq. ft.) apartment where I had painted for 15 years.  Thus started my artistic shuffle through six diverse and for the most part, progressively larger shared studio locations. After the passing of my love, Henri, in June of 2025, two rents in Paris were no longer financially tenable. Thus the deck has been fully played and my studio has returned to it’s origin in September.

My first separate atelier was in the Passage de la Boule Blanche near the Bastille in the 12^th arrondissement;

then to the 2nd in the heart of Paris in an 18th Century building on Rue d’Aboukir for 4 years;

followed by a 1930’s art deco State owned building 10 minutes from our apartment in the 15^th;

next to an artist’s top floor loft in the 16^th;

then a 21 sq. m (226 sq. ft.) space in a 1904 former workshop factory, converted into artists’ studios, La Fabrique, in Ivry-sur-Seine, one metro stop outside Paris;

then to a 6th studio located on the ground floor in the same complex; and now, full circle, back to rue Auguste Chabrières in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.

Each space and area will deserve their own story.

©2022 Ann James Massey, SWA, CPSA, UKCPS, AAPL