Mike Budai's Ziggy-on-acid-style silk-screened poster characters heralded the grand opening of Lauri Mancuso's latest venture: Paint & Body at 815 Penn Ave., Wilkinsburg. Paint & Body lies within walking distance of The Mr. Roboto Project outpost.

Paint & Body -- the title derives from the building's former sign that read "Earl Scheib's Auto Body and Paint" -- is a new art and performance venue and Mancuso's latest contribution to Pittsburgh's growing arts scene.

The venture, along with Mancuso's historic run as curator of Garfield Artworks -- with curatorial stints at Spinning Plate Gallery, the former Arrow Gallery space, and recently igniting Brillobox's "Unblurred Video Happy Hour" -- affirms her position as Pittsburgh's chief independent curator.

Mancuso says she had no choice but to move from her successful Arrow Gallery building at 5499 Penn Ave. -- in the arts corridor -- farther down into Wilkinsburg.

"I left because the roof was leaking and another space became available," she says. Mancuso was leasing 5449 from the Friendship Development Association.

Paint & Body is a large, showroom-like space with stairs up to a smaller mezzanine level, which offers a tree trimmer's view of the larger space and performance stage. The auto shop's original blue and yellow graphic stripes still wrap around the inside walls of the space.

The snowy grand opening on Dec. 3 featured performances by Detroit's Wolf Eyes and Graveyards with Pittsburgh's Jack Wright Trio (featuring Michael Johnsen and Wade Matthews), Ice Capades and DJ Cutups.

Omnipresent Edgar Um Bucholtz helped to organize the night's sound project lineup, as well as the two-story-high video projections -- their content ranging from psychedelic-colored abstractions to pictures of Myron Cope -- by John Allen Gibbel.

From the mezzanine perch you could see directly onto the stage for a unique view of Johnsen's saw playing and the inelegant mosh pit that later broke out during the Wolf Eyes set.

Local favorites Josh Bonnet and Ladyboy installed ephemeral, site-specific works inside Paint & Body to collaborate with the evening's sound events. Artist Tim Kaulen installed a more permanent street-side wall sculpture out front, appropriately crafted from old auto shop signage.

Mancuso's confident that her established, grassroots following will continue to attend events at this larger, less leaky space. Next, Tom Weinrich unveils "Survival City," site-specific installations and drawings, on Jan. 7. Live music kicks off the event from 7 p.m. For information, call 412-951-0622 or visit www.arrowgallery.com.