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Even though it was only 44 degrees, I decided to brave the bike last Friday night for my trip to the opening of Papa B Studios. It’s always a big move for me to get on that bike after a winter of languishing, but the chilly spring air was so refreshingly not the recycled air in my stuffy apartment, and it felt good to have the heavy duty chain lock as an accessory again. I don’t make it to Broadway much even though it’s only several blocks away, except for the odd GBM show here and there. I noticed a Popeye’s somewhere near Jefferson and B’way this time though, so I feel like this may be the beginning of many return trips for a biscuit drenched in gravy, a long-time personal favorite.

B-friend and I pulled up to Papa B, immediately recognizable by its overflowing gaggle of skinny black-jeaned guests. It’s a new space on Broadway (@ Arion Place), which offers studios and facilities to artists, and hopes to “create a community, rather than just a space to work.” There was a graffiti-esque sign on the pulled down metal gate but other than that, an inconspicuous entrance with a lingering “Ground floor for RENT” sign. We walked in through a crowd of smokers, into a maze of gray and white, and I was immediately impressed by the space. It’s inner shell is classic pre-war Brooklyn, with high tin ceilings in varied styles and designs, and a narrow but long and therefore spacious interior with the carefully preserved remnants of moldings where there were once doorways or room divisions. It has been carefully and design-consciously divided into ten (or more) studio spaces, ranging in size but small-ish. The walls are whitewashed, and the floors grey or newly parqueted — pretty standard office/gallery. My favorite part was the indoor/outdoor space in the front (allowing one the old-fashioned option of both drinking and smoking at the same time). They built a glass wall/door entrance about 8 feet in from the actual street entrance, leaving an airy space covered by a tin ceiling and looking out at the steel gate through broken but still beautiful stained glass high border windows.

The crowd was young, studenty, arty, and in a good mood. The art was “urban” and street art influenced, and meshed well with the dj’s fine choices which included a lot of hip hop and also some NIN and Violent Femmes. If I had had my mini tape recorder with and could have shared with you, you might have heard this along with the music: “German Expressionism ROCKS,” “I have a lot of issues,” and “I’m currently obsessed with Proust.” There were plentiful amounts of two buck chuck, and vodka from apparent sponsor “Pink ” (caffeine & guarana infused). After two free drinks, a lot of caffeine induced twitching, and awkwardly staring at people, B-friend and I called it a night, but it was clear the party was only getting started at Papa B. Biking back was downhill, fast and freezing.