t w,.1 (1 4B - Thursday, September 12,;2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Each week we take shots at the biggest developments in the entertainment world. Here's what hit (and missed) this week., Van Gogh's sur ontmajour (1888) acc as an authentic after than a century of dout two years of p Britney s new single, "Work Bitch," leaked * before the release of snippets of her new :i album, Work Bitch, out Sept. 16. 4 Better watch Saul AMC has a licensing agreement for "Break- ing Bad" spinoff, with the working title "Better Call Saul." 40 Design by Nick Cruz GRAFFITI From Page 1B "It's not a shady area to me," Boening said. "Not from what I've been around." After Boening leaves to look for a different shooting location on State Street, a handful of Universi- ty students meander through, Ins- tagramming photos and sketching in their notebooks. As the sun shines and people pass happily on the street, it certainly doesn't look like the sinister space some make it out to be. But the night tells a slightly dif- ferent story. With Necto Night- club and Scorekeepers Bar and Grill just across the street, a slew of interesting characters can be found smoking (possibly ciga- rettes) just outside the clubs. A man asks a group of bar-hoppers for money, while a girl crosses to the other side of the street to avoid the scene. There are groups of panhan- dlers crowded on various cor- ners on both sides of East Liberty Street. At around 11 p.m., as the party at Necto starts to populate and people congregate around the alley, it's easy to see why business owners would be worried about the effect the area would have on their business. But after the groups move into Necto, the street is relatively quiet. are out only pass through on their way to or from Washington Street. For Naser Ras, a manager at Hommus Express, and Doreen Sun, a manager at TK WU, the alley poses no problems to their businesses, which operate primar- ily during the day. Sun, who has been a manager at TK WU for 10 years, said though she personally has never had bad experiences with panhandlers or rowdy teenagers, the owner of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, which closed at the end of March and was located right next to the alley, used to complain about the effects of the alley on her business. "We have alot of homeless that come to our store to buy food, but I don't think it's a problem," Sun said. "It doesn't bother us." The space previously occupied by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is currently unoccupied, but will soon house Tamaki, a cus- tom sushi restaurant. Ann Arbor City Councilmem- ber Sabra Briere (D-Ward 1) wrote in an e-mail interview thatthe city has worked closely with human service organizations in the past couple years to combat homeless- ness in the area, as well as provide support to those facing addiction and mental health issues. In a2011interviewwithAnnAr- borcom, Briere said "there's a certain lawless nature to the ara" Now how~evehinshave improved and Briere even receives proposals to hold art exhibits in the alley. "A couple of years ago, I was hearing that there were people in need of help - and in denial that they needed help - who demand- ed money from those just walking through," Briere wrote. "Have the alleys changed? I think so." A complex public space Briere and others have taken strides to ensure that all residents and visitors of Ann Arbor feel safe in the streets. But for some, the very fact that the alley makes people uncomfortable is reason to celebrate it. Over the years, Nick Tobier, an associate professor in the School of Art & Design, has watched the State Street area transform from a place that housed mostly local businesses, to one overrun with national chains and corpora- tions. Tobier, whose work focuses on public art, said Graffiti Alley offers the city a refreshing break from the corporatized America that can be found in any town. "I think that Graffiti Alley helps contribute to the sense of an eccentric place," Tobier said. "It's really necessary in a complex city to have places that are, I don't mean deviant in a bad (way), but I mean slightly apart from main- stream consumer culture." 0 NICHOLASWILLIAMS/Daily LSA junior Waseef Ahsan and LSA senior Saif Hassan take a rest from the heat. panhandlers and teenagers who make some local business owners and residents uncomfortable are a direct result of the State Street changes. He said it's inevitable that people will gravitate towards "unbranded corporate-logo spac- es" like the alley. That's not to say Tobier endors- es crime. On the contrary, he and many other artists advocate for the space as a way to make sure everyone in the city has the chance to say something or to way. "I'm all for safe streets; I don't want people to feel vulnerable," he said. "But teenagers feel vul- nerable. They need to feel like there's a place where they can leave their mark or they can do their own thing without some- one shouting at them." With the rejection of the pro- posed art millage on last Novem- ber's ballot - which would have provided funds for public art installation projects such as by the suspension of the Percent for Art program, the future of public art in the city remains unclear. In Tobier's eyes, Graffiti Alley can help fill the void and pro- vide Ann Arbor with a necessary place for expression in a public setting. He said Ann Arbor has a ways to go in improving itspublic art scene in all different scales. "The reflection of a complex society is a complex public space. You need all types of things to be " LSA juniors Han Yu and Jose Gomez admire the alley on a late night stroll.