Part theater, part dance, and part performance art: Do you ever wish you better at things? a new production by Brendalinda Performance Collaborative (BLPC) premiers in Ann Arbor January, 2013. Do you ever wish… opens January 18 and runs through February 2, offering audiences a glimpse at the realization of that very question in artistic form. Performances are Friday and Saturday nights with doors opening at 8:00 p.m. followed by the show at 9:00 p.m. at the LePop gallery, located at 101 N. Main, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Tickets can be purchased for $10 at the door.

What better time for self reflection than the beginning of the year? Many of us
spend countless moments dwelling on those things we would like to change about
ourselves, often times resolving to make these changes come during the new year in hopes that we can better our lives and the lives of those we care about. Whether it be as plainly stated as ‘Guitar’ or as elusive as ‘Letting Go,’ the question, “Do you ever wish you were better at things?” elicits a broad spectrum of responses that illustrate an honest and difficult component of our human nature.

Hosted in Charlie LaCroix’s LePop Gallery, Do You Ever Wish… aligns with BLPC’s mission to redefine what a performance site can be. “By removing performance from a theater we can open up the work to a wider range of people and remove boundaries that we might otherwise face,” says BLPC Creative Director, Brian Carbine. “The gallery gives us an opportunity to design something that is totally immersive and something that requires the audience to become an active participant in the experience.”

The script for Do You Ever Wish… was developed by BLPC’s members and utilizes a combination of movement and ethnographic research, visual arts, oral histories, and fiction for inspiration. Photographic documentation of the process can be followed online as the cast posts pictures of community members holding signs featuring their wishes for betterment. The project is produced in partnership with Charlie LaCroix Art Brokerage and Creative Rights.

LePop is coming back from summer hiatus with a sugary sweet solo show by Detroit artist, Michelle Tanguay. Visitors can expect a veritable candyland of color and sass to brighten West Huron this fall.

Drawing inspiration from her time at College for Creative Studies, Tanguay and friend, Nina Marcus-Kurlonko, began curating art shows as Pop Up Detroit in 2010. In spite of having represented over 60 artists from the Metro Detroit area, this is her first solo show and she’s been feverishly working to put the finishing touches on some new oil paintings in time for the opening.

Recently, Tanguay has participated in the Red Bull House of Art, has been featured in the Examiner, and the Red Bull Bulletin. In her latest series of portraits Tanguay, explores her unhealthy obsession with candy. Tanguay’s love of sugary sweets has landed her in the dentist’s chair a handful of times in the last few months, resulting in two root canals, 8 fillings, and a room full of effervescent paintings.

LePop is a traveling pop-up art gallery intended to breathe new life into underutilized corporate spaces available for lease or sale. This series of art exhibitions takes place in the former MyBuys space in the Comerica building at 101 N. Main St in downtown Ann Arbor and feature the work of up and coming artists who specialize in cutting edge art across a variety of media.

LePop will open with a celebration on the evening of October 19th from 8 p.m. until midnight. In typical Charlie LaCroix style, there will be a variety of refreshments and sweets to compliment a night of art and entertainment by Detroit’s own Girls Gone Vinyl. This is a free event.

Those who can’t make it out for opening night will still have a chance to indulge; Sweet Tooth will run October 19th through November 24th, during regular gallery hours: Tuesday through Thursday 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and weekends by appointment. Charlie LaCroix invites the community to inquire about holding your next holiday party, fashion show, reality TV audition and more at LePop.

Buying art can be stressful, especially if you haven’t taken an arts course since finger painting. Chaely Chartier of Charlie LaCroix Art Brokerage sat down with Creative Rights and offered some advice about taking those first steps toward removing the posters from your walls and purchasing some original artwork.

Read the whole interview over on the Creative Rights Blog.

Our recent visit from Spanish street artist Xuan Alyfe has created a wonderful dialogue about the moment at which graffiti scrawled on the side of the building crosses the line between a bunch of unintelligible tags and a collective form of expression that people can take pride in. Can they be one in the same?

Mode Shift, a great website powered by the Michigan Community Foundation, asked Charlie LaCroix to weigh in on this topic last week. Check out our thoughts at this link and let us know what street art does for you.