Music, Masterpieces, and Mummies?
Happy Devil’s Night! I always thought that name for the eve of Halloween was kind of fun, if not weirdly intense compared to other holiday names. Turns out it’s almost exclusively a Michigan term! No one else in the country really has a name for it. I guess we’re just particularly wicked around these parts. Unfortunately, Michigan doesn’t seem to have a devilish nick-name for the day AFTER Halloween.
Which is a shame because we’ve got big plans this Friday, 11/1 for Art Hop! The bakery’s return to Art Hop has taken a while but we’ve really got our feet under us now and have a lot in store this Friday; halloween treats, savory bakes, a tremendous artist, and a wonderful musical group!
Our artist is Hannah Gregus, also known as Hann of the Wood. She is a visual artist from Michigan who has honed her craft at Savannah College of Art and Design and is back to share her work with us! I’ll add a couple of her pieces to this email but you should really come down to see all of her work. From large watercolor and ink paintings, to small stickers and prints, she even has printed notebooks and tea towels. All of it is light, vibrant, fun, and deeply rooted in nature. I’m sure she’ll have some spooky leaning art in the spirit of the holiday.
To double (triple?) down on the Halloween vibes, we’re excited to welcome back live music to Art Hop Friday nights! The Alex Roberts Quartet will be playing a Halloween themed set for us. “The Quartet” is a group of high school and college musicians led by Alex Roberts on cello. Collectively, they’ve played with the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Academy of Rock, and WMU. They enjoy reshaping pop music into something fresh and exciting by incorporating classical, jazz, and soul elements. “The Quartet”s lineup ebbs and flows, with this Friday consisting of Alex, Michael, David, Ava, Obed, and Wayana.
This is a really special group of young people that have already played one of our brunches this summer and we’re really looking forward to seeing what they bring to an evening-after-Halloween setting. Alex has promised us some classical renditions of Halloween adjacent pop songs. Think more “Thriller” and less “Monster Mash.” Though a little kitsch never killed anybody.
Here's a video of the Alex Roberts Quartet rehearsal! Give their instagram page a follow while you're at it.
And that’s all we have to offer at Sarkozy Art Gallery and Concert Venue. Wait- Sarkozy Bakery! BAKERY! Right. Right. We also do that! And what will we have baked up? Gotta have mummy cookies if we’re going to keep this Halloween vibe going. And I’ll take every opportunity I have to serve up pizzas and Bavarian style pretzels on a Friday night. And, as is Art Hop tradition, we’ll have some complimentary adult beverages… But surely that’s not the only reason you all come out to these things, right? You’re here for the art!
Again, Art Hop is this Friday, 11/1 (as in two days from now) from 5-8pm. The bakery is regularly open 7:30am-5pm, so we’re just not going to close! Oof, that’ll be a long day. I wonder when I’ll have time to change into my costume?
One more thing! I mentioned our Sunday brunches earlier, they’ve been going even better than we imagined. We’ve got really nice brunch specials that are turning into a stable menu and, even more exciting, we have fantastic musicians every single brunch! This week is Jeff Stockton and Dave Hunt, playing bluesy, relaxing, engaging guitar and harmonica. They’re fabulous and deserve way more than just a tag-on at the end of an email. So please, come out this Sunday to show them a proper Sarkozy crowd! And, maybe enjoy a croissant, or loaf, or brunch special while you’re at it. This is a bakery after all! Bakery opens at 7:30 on Sunday, brunch starts at 10:00, and music is from 11:00-1:00.
Bakery love,
Alec