Midtown : Buzz

Kresge Foundation's call for applications from Metro Detroit's creative leaders in the literary and performing arts ends next week.

Kresge Arts in Detroit will provide 24 winners from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties "whose commitment to innovation and artistic achievement are evident in the quality of their work" with a $25,000 stipend.

Applications must be filled out online and are due Feb. 1. The fellowships are funded by the Kresge Foundation and administered by the College for Creative Studies.

For more information, visit Kresgeartsindetroit.org.

Rodriguez has always been a mysterious figure, even in underground Detroit art and music circles. He was a fixture in the old Cass Corridor in the late-1960s/early-1970s, playing guitar and writing tunes about halfway between East Coast and West Coast (Bob Dylan and Arthur Lee of Love). He recorded his music, it made its way to South Africa, which embraced the son of Mexican immigrants as a poet-genius of gritty urban Americana.

Then, he was said to disappear. Only to be rediscovered by new generations of rockers. But let's not spoil the story any further.

Read more about the film here. Then get out and see it when it hits a Detroit screen near you.

Developed by ArtServe Michigan and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit in partnership with the College for Creative Studies and Cranbrook Academy of Art, this summit is designed to empower artists of all disciplines to take the next step in building sustainable professional creative practices.

It takes place Friday and Saturday (Dec. 16-17) at MOCAD, 4454 Woodward Ave., in Midtown. Get more info and register here.

It was a lazy month for London ad agency owners Davey and Erin Spens. The pair, fascinated by magazines and travel, took an unusual vacation -- renting an office in Sarajevo, bringing their two coworkers along to pen a magazine offering readers a true glimpse of the formerly war-torn city.

After some help from writer Dave Eggers, who introduced the first issue of Boat Magazine with one of his short stories, the pair are at it again. They came to Detroit to produce their second issue -- a $12 "antidote to lazy journalism," printed on beautiful matte paper, with an article from Jeffrey Eugenides and interviews with Ben Wallace, Alex Winston and Jessica Hernandez.

We found one excerpt, a photo essay on Detroit food, in The Guardian:

We headed down there on a Saturday morning to find a bustling area filled with vegetable stalls, and thousands of people from all over Detroit and the surrounding states shopping for produce for home or business. The must-haves are the ribs from Berts, but we were as taken by the market across the freeway, with its walls painted in murals of meat, fish and cheese, which are sold inside.

Buy it here.

Locally-based social entrepreneurs are repositioning the nation's geographic emphasis on Silicon Valley, attracting a business incubator at Wayne State, a venture capital fund based out of U of M, and the attention of tech wizards and venture capitalists on the West Coast.

At the Blackstone LaunchPad incubator at Wayne State, a diverse group of student entrepreneurs are being trained in running a business -- but locating those future companies in Metro Detroit is part of the program. And they're inspired by young social entrepreneurs like EnGarde Detroit's Bobby Smith and Veronika Scott of the Empowerment Plan to do more than just pay the bills.

Smith says his long-term goal is to help transform Detroit into the "Silicon Valley of social entrepreneurship. Detroit is the perfect place for it -- Detroit created the middle class. People here are not afraid of hard work," he says.

Read more here.

This LA Times' trip to Detroit found an "artistic haven" of old structures, committed art dealers and vibrant examples of how community and culture intersect.

From the DIA, which the writer calls "America's most overlooked major museum," to the sculpture park outside the College for Creative Studies, and even a stop at Heidelberg, this travelogue details a city teeming with creativity. Russell St. Deli, Cafe D'Mongo's, Cass Cafe, and yes, Slows, were a few of the destinations the LA Times raved about.

Excerpt:

When I asked his inspiration, Guyton responded with questions of his own: "What is art today?" "Does it have to be in a museum?" "How do you revitalize a neighborhood?" "How do you get people to come to Detroit despite what they've heard?"

One of Guyton's motifs is New York taxis, painted on plywood boards. "A lot of people think you have to go to New York to make it," he said. "I'm saying I can make it right here, and I will. Watch me. I'm just getting started."

Find out more here.

There's just no stopping Detroit Restaurant Week.

Event producers Paxahau reported that the 10-evening dining promotion lured 36,046 gourmands to 21 restaurants across the city of Detroit, an 18.4 percent increase over 2010. It's the second-largest tally ever for the $28 prix fixe dining bonanza, which has counted 150,000 customers since launching five years ago.


"We are pleased the enthusiasm Metro Detroiters have for Detroit Restaurant Week has continued to grow over the years," said Jason Huvaere, Director of Detroit Restaurant Week. "It has been a terrific way for our community to experience the tremendous fine dining restaurants Detroit has to offer. With each campaign we hope we’re developing a new crop of customers who will frequent the restaurants all year long."

Stay tuned for the announcement for a Spring 2012 Detroit Restaurant Week date and more here.

Across Midtown, a new appreciation for the humble alleyway is resulting in creative re-adaptations as entryways, pedestrian corridors and outdoor spaces all their own.

The Detroit Idea Factory examines three varied uses for the alley around Midtown. Outside Motor City Brewing Works, the Canfield Green Alley beautifully connects Second Ave. and Canfield without sacrificing the tenets of sustainability. Over in the Sugar Hill Arts District, new restaurant Seva will open an outdoor patio in the alley, dismissing the typical exterior seating outside of the storefront. And Hatch finalists Alley Wine say they hope to open their future vino bar in a Cass Corridor alley.

Excerpt:

The master plan for Sugar Hill links up walkable alleys with the Midtown Loop, a pedestrian greenway. The culture of a walking city is part of our history, and our urban bones still support it. The intricate network of alleyways and narrow sidestreets are waiting to happen.

Are alleys the next big thing? Click here for more.

In Kansas, a battle between Governor Sam Brownback and the National Endowment for the Arts has resulted in the NEA pulling all arts funding for the state, according to Grist. In Detroit, partnerships between major institutions and artistic-minded entrepreneurs have launched partnerships like the FAB lab, which offers metalworkers, mixed-media artists, woodworkers and digital fabricators the (often expensive) tools and space needed to practice their craft. Which seems like a growth strategy?

Excerpt:

"Detroit has always been a place where things have been made," says Alex Feldman, one of the project's creators, who works on economic development strategies with the company U3 Ventures. "That tradition is still alive here. But it's starting to shift in a small way to a more (artistic) culture of manufacturing and creation."

Tap into the scene here.

What can one do with a loft at Willy's Overland? The Detroit News peeks inside the living spaces of two new residents of Midtown. Jeff Antaya's two-story loft features 20-foot ceilings, while the second bedroom offers views all the way to the Ford River Rouge plant. A few floors down, DIA textile conservator Howard Sutliffe integrates mahogany-stained concrete floors and Amish quilts into a warm take on the gritty urban feel of the loft. It's a rare peek at two design-influenced personalities, and a study on how creative thinking can subvert the stereotypical influences of an "urban loft."

Excerpt:

Best of all, with its tall white walls and open space, the loft is a perfect showcase for Antaya's extensive art collection, which, for the most part, is either Detroit-based or by Detroit artists. "Art helps my creativity, and it has helped my creative thinking skills, too," says Antaya, who is a board member at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Step inside here.

It's been a wonderful three years for Detroit's art scene, thanks to the work of Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit -- and its curator, Luis Croquer, was the visionary at the helm.

Under Croquer's direction, MOCAD became more than a new museum helping define the city's emerging reputation for art around the world. It became a can't miss tourist destination, a center for the city's own creatives, and the home of can't-miss parties for kids of all ages. We'll miss him.

Excerpt:

Well, I'm here for a while, but yes. I will be curious to see how things evolve. You know, when I came here, New Yorkers said, "What are you doing?" And now it's like, "Oh, you're in the coolest town in America." I've gone from being an idiot to being a visionary.

Read the farewell here.

Pop-up retail is spreading throughout Metro Detroit (other than the annual Halloween shops, we're going to give the credit to Joe Posch's Hugh for this one). The Somerset Collection's CityLoft luxury shopping experience downtown will extend weekend shopping hours through December for the holiday shopping season. The article also caught up with 71 Pop's Margarita Barry, who offered a convincing argument for many entrepreneurs to scout the market by opening temporary retail.

Excerpt:

"It's a good chance for me to learn whether I really want to run a brick-and-mortar business," Barry said. "What are the price points that work? What does the community want? The pop up idea is offering me a great chance to learn."

Find out more here.

LiveWorkDetroit! showcases Detroit as the place for Michigan's college graduates and young professionals to live and work. The group says Detroit is one of the hottest and hippest places in the country (thank you, we appreciate that) and LiveWorkDetroit! gives participants the opportunity to see it in person and to hear it directly from employers eager to hire the best and brightest.

LiveWorkDetroit will take place Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Max M. Fisher Music Center, 3711 Woodward Ave., in Midtown Detroit.

There is a $15 registration at www.michiganadvantage.org/LWD. Click here to check out the event flyer.

Readers as young as six can now enjoy the brilliant spectacle of Tyree Guyton's work -- without leaving the house.

A new picture-book biography, "Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art," was released by author J.H Shapiro and illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton. The story details Guyton's transformative powers on his East Side neighborhood.

Bid farewell to Guyton, who is heading to Basel, Switzerland, for a one-year arts residency, on Friday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. Kresge Eminent Artist honoree Marcus Belgrave will perform his unique new composition, All That Jazz: The Heidelberg Suite, with Anthony Wilson and the Detroit All-Star Jazz Orchestra. The concert was made possible through a $50,000 gift from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation. The fete takes place at the First Congregational Church at 33 E. Forest. Tickets are $25. The concert is in partnership with the Arts League of Michigan.

Excerpt:

Guyton is headed to Basel, Switzerland in late October for a prestigious, one-year residency at the Laurenz House where he will reflect on 25 years of the Heidelberg Project through a series of manifestos. This work is a component of his 2009 honorary PhD from the College for Creative Studies. Guyton has also been invited to participate in the international 2012 Art Basel, called “the largest art show in the world.”

Purchase your tickets and find out more here.

A Midtown wine bar, a Woodbridge "gypsy den" serving fine teas and a bakeshop with a big heart -- these are just three of the 10 semi-finalist businesses announced in the Hatch Detroit entrepreneurial contest, which will award $50,000 and mentoring to Detroit's favorite idea for new retail.

Voting's now open to the public -- two rounds will narrow down the pool of semi-finalists to the "Hatch Off" finale, where the budding entrepreneurs will be given five minutes to make their best pitches to a team of judges.

Head to the Hatch Detroit page to cast your votes for the top four -- and come back the next day (you can vote once every 24 hours). Best of luck to all! Detroit could use all 10 of these these fresh ideas for local biz -- and 10 more after that.