59 Rivoli Art Studios

ayconry — Wed, 27 May 2015 04:02:21 GMT

I can wile away an entire day walking the streets of a new city, going wherever my mood leads me. It's the best way to find the fun, the locals, the unexpected. Case in point, on a recent trip to Paris I discovered, quite by accident, the 59 Rivoli Art Studios on my way to the Louvre. I chose the scenic route to get to know the neighborhood so imagine my delight when, from a few blocks away, I spotted the feverishly flamboyant entrance of the Haussmannian building along rue Rivoli in the 9th arrondissement. Right away, the door screams: this is where all the cool kids are hanging out.

Once inside, I learned that 59 Rivoli houses the working studios of over 30 artists. Not all of artists are French, as a few slots are kept open for visiting residencies. Every day, except Mondays, they open to the public after 1 p.m. and visitors can meander through the six floors at their leisure. To make things even better, admission is free. The co-op also holds events and performances of all types throughout the year. According to its website, it gets more than 40,000 visitors a year but the day I went was calm and quiet and there was no rush to see one room from the next.

A looming, spiral staircase runs up the center of the building and there are lovely, large windows overlooking the street. Every square inch of the place is creatively covered in paint and ephemera: maps, scraps of cloth, bottle caps, lamps, wooden sculptures, the list goes on. Think Alice in Wonderland with an industrial edge. It's a messy glimpse inside the hearts and brains of imaginative people, abound with sculpture, collage, photography, acrylics, and textiles.

Had I taken the metro and stuck to a concrete plan, I would have missed this offbeat pocket of color and sensory overload. I don't dismiss the classical galleries but there's just something to be said for watching artists create in the here and now. To go where their music is playing loud, their lunches are sitting out, their hands are crafting and calloused, is to see what Art is. Finding these studios was the exclamation point at the end of an ordinary day and to quote a mural I spotted on my visit: The earth without art is just “eh.” Who wants that?

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

ayconry — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 22:27:55 GMT

If you ask around, among my friends and family, they will tell you I am the girl that is always off to some far away place, camera in hand, journal close by. If you ask me, I will tell you that is what makes me feel most alive and to fulfill the dream of journeying with National Geographic would only further strengthen my belief that the world is boundless and grand. This particular group of photos I have submitted were taken on a recent trip to Nepal. I was traveling for a month, volunteering my photojournalism skills with several non-profit organizations. In addition to documenting a Moving Medical Camp that provided health care to villagers in rural parts of the country, I also worked in Kathmandu with programs dedicated to helping impoverished women and children. It was my first time in Nepal and from the moment I left the confines of the airport, it was an assault on my senses that never left. There was so much life pouring out onto the streets - a dazzling array of sounds, smells, colors, noise, smoke, faces and light. On any given day, there was beauty, death, spirituality, friendship and poverty all around you. It is my hope that the judges will view these images and feel the sense of place that they come from. As a photographer, I record these moments and people as a way to see into a mirror - to find a connection with strangers half a world away and to show others a little of the world I see.

My Travels

59 Rivoli Art Studios

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry