What’s up

Some of the hottest interior designers offer one-of-a-kind items for a good cause this month. That’s the plan for the collaboration between Baton Rouge native and interior designer Kenneth Brown and Ann Connelly Fine Art for their event, CHAIRS.

The event benefits City Year, a nonprofit focused on keeping public school students on track to graduate. The idea of a pop-up shop for a good cause is increasingly popular, especially in Los Angeles, where Brown lived previously and still owns a studio. He wanted to take the idea home, bringing together the art and design community and offering customers a chance to purchase furniture that’s otherwise hard to find locally. “This allows people in Baton Rouge to get different looks and step outside of the box,” he says. “It’s an opportunity for people to experience a different way of shopping and connect with a cause. I hope to do more of them.”

Pieces from Paris-based furniture designer Christian Liaigre and Los Angeles-based Nancy Corzine will be part of the 17-piece collection up for sale. For her part, Ann Connelly is presenting artworks to complement the collection during the weeklong showcase.

Following an invitation-only kickoff party, Brown’s studio in the Tessier Building downtown will be open to the public 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 4-8. Call 927-7676 for more information. kennethbrowndesign.com

For this year’s Uncommon Thread, the artist’s blank canvas is the art itself. The theme for Culture Candy’s latest wearable art fashion show is “Carte Blanche,” and the designers’ task: construct a garment that is almost entirely white. That puts the stakes higher than ever, and will make for an impressive display at the LSU Museum of Art, complete with performances by dancers and multimedia artists as well. Oct. 19. culturecandy.org

It’s not October without a little fear, and the 13th Gate and its sister attraction Necropolis 13 know how to bring it and then some. This year, the 13th Gate transports you to the dirty, cholera-infested streets of London’s East End at the height of Jack the Ripper paranoia. It’s worth the ticket price alone for the incredible movie-worthy sets and 180 actors dedicated to making you scream. Open every weekend this month and all Halloween week. midnightproduction.com Check out our gallery of behind-the-scenes photos.

New York-based artist Lesley Dill debuted some striking sculptures covered in Gothic-style lettering at the Miami Biennale in 2012. And now that series, exploring the nature of language and visual poetry, comes to the LSU Museum of Art in its first public showing. The exhibition is on view this month, continuing into January 2014. Dill will also speak about her work at the LSU Design Building Oct. 9. lsumoa.org

Inside a modest warehouse off South Choctaw Drive, Lou Illar builds champions. The Martial Arts Hall of Famer opened Baton Rouge’s White Crane Studio in 1975, and this August, four of Illar’s kung fu competitors took home top honors at the U.S. Capitol Classics in Washington, D.C. Illar credits his fighters’ victory in the tournament to their ability to see the big picture. “Sometimes you have these people who know every way to defend themselves,” Illar says, “but then they don’t think of anything other than themselves. We focus on looking outside of ourselves.” Looking outward seems to be the key to Illar’s success as well. In his years as a kung fu master, Illar has reached out to students with disabilities like Tourette Syndrome and ADHD and brought in more than $300,000 for special needs children with White Crane’s martial arts performances. whitecranestudio.com —Kaci Yoder

15: Number of new Amazonian bird species discovered by LSU researches and students, all recently published in a volume of the Handbook of the Birds of the World. Led by LSu ornithologist Bret Whitney and in conjunction with several universities in Brazil, it’s one of the largest collections of bird discoveries published together since 1871. the researchers used hi-tech digital recordings to distinguish the new species based on their songs and calls.