Beth Bricker, Lake Street Studios diversify the art

By Corin Blust
Sun contributor
If you’ve ever stepped into the Lake Street Studios, across the street from Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor, chances are you’ve spoken with Beth Bricker, part of a family team that runs the Forest Gallery on the building’s south side.
“I talk to everybody, way too much,” says Bricker. “I want people to remember [the gallery as a place where] they felt so good the last time they came here that they want to come back.”
This welcoming atmosphere is extremely important to Beth. “I really want you and your grandma and your little baby sister to be able to come in here and hang out,” she told me. “I would just be horrified if someone called us a slick gallery.”

The Lake Street Studios are, in fact, far from slick. Beth manages to make the small space comfortable and intriguing — the perfect mix of relaxed Leelanau County funk and breathtaking fine art.
The galleries are still in the process of becoming a place where Beth, her parents Ben and Ananda, her sister Cherrie Stege, and Harry Fried and Allison Stupka, feel completely confident about taking over. The passing of Suzanne Wilson (Allison’s mother) two years ago left a void in the business around which the Brickers are still trying to figure out how to work.
“Suzanne picked the artists, she contacted the artists, she had relationships with the artists. She traveled everywhere — she’d go to Argentina and Whales and find someone who wanted to come up here and show,” says Beth. “She was wonderful at establishing a feeling of community for the artists with whom she worked.”
Because Suzanne was such an integral part of the gallery, Beth doesn’t want to automatically fill the space that she left behind. Instead of attempting to follow in Suzanne’s footsteps, the Beth and her partners are trying to run the Lake Street Studios as their own business without trying to replace Suzanne. In an effort to take new directions, this year they chose to show more local artists in the Center Gallery than they ever have before.
“We are exhibiting lots of local artists, and many of them are just straight up Glen Arbor artists, which is pretty exciting,” says Beth. “We haven’t done that for a long time, if ever. There are fabulous artists [in Leelanau County] that are hiding out there in the woods.”
The Center Gallery, which is located between Nori Obata’s space in the North Gallery (where Suzanne once worked) and the Bricker family’s Forest Gallery to the south, features a new show from a different artist each week. The Center Gallery is a completely blank room with a gray concrete floor, white walls and a black table.
“The life that comes out of there is just cool,” says Beth. “One week there were bright, almost neon colors: paintings, quilts, and a copper enamel sculpture. It was vibrant. Then we had Kirsten Hurlin’s work, which is fabulous, but more reserved. It changes the room.” Beth looks forward to being a part of this transformation each week.
Beth Bricker’s own work will be exhibited in the Center Gallery from July 21 to the 27.
“I paint right now in acrylics, and I also do pastels,” she said. Beth is a third generation professional artist, and has explored a variety of media throughout her career. Aside from painting, she studied weaving and metalsmithing during her time at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. This summer she is also teaching a watercolor class for children at the Glen Arbor Art Association.
Even though Bricker and her partners are still finding their own path at the Lake Street Studios, they have put together some remarkable new events for the summer. The Arts Collage on July 28 will highlight a full day of events, starting with an afternoon of artist demonstrations in the galleries and studios. The early evening will feature a wine tasting in the Center Gallery, followed by an on-stage performance at night behind the Lake Street Studios.
“We fixed up the stage real nice, and we are going to have musicians, a performing philosopher and an art film. It’s going to be so cool!” Beth says.
On August 19, Los Gatos, an Ann Arbor Latin Jazz band, will also perform on the Studios’ newly renovated stage.
“That’s going to be really hopping,” Beth says. People should bring their dancing shoes for an evening of hot Latin music behind the Studios.
Stop by the Lake Street Studios this summer and check out the great local art, or attend one of these exciting events and enjoy the benefits of having such reputable studios in our community.