COCA (the Council on Culture & Arts) announces

Culture Club: Where the community convenes for cultural conversations.

For anyone who makes a living or a hobby of the arts or enjoys the view from the audience; plays in an orchestra or sings in a band; dances, acts, directs, costumes or lights a show; paints, takes photographs, makes films or buys local art; teaches any type of art at any level, writes books, attends or organizes festivals, explores an historic site, admires exhibitions in a museum or hangs them yourself, you are the Culture Club.

Tallahassee has the Economic Club of Florida, The Capital Tiger Bay Club, & dozens of others. Culture Club now joins them and knows that members of those clubs are also members of the Culture Club.

All Culture Club meetings will begin with light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar followed by the sit-down portion of the meeting where “Inside the Actors Studio” meets “NPR’s Press Club” meets “The Phil Donahue Show” (for those old enough to know who he is).

Culture Club’s featured guests may be famous or infamous, citizens or politicians with opinions, do-ers and/or teachers of the arts, and more.

COCA thanks The Knight Foundation for their help in launching this inaugural meeting on Wednesday, April 27 at 5:30-7:30 pm at the Tallahassee Little Theatre. Tickets for the general public are $15 and for COCA Members are $10. It’s easy to register your attendance online at http://cocanet.org/assistance/cultureclub.html . But, it’s first come, first serve for this first meeting and space is limited.

The first Culture Club conversation begins with no politics. We welcome as our featured guests…Michael Bakan & The Artism Music-Play Project.

How does music affect children? Or, more specifically, can making music have an impact on children on the autism spectrum? Through the Artism Music-Play Project, Michael Bakan and his Artism Ensemble collaborators are exploring such questions in a very practical—and a very musical—way.

The music of Artism draws from a vast array of musical traditions, from Chinese zheng and Aboriginal Australian didgeridoo music to rumba, flamenco, jazz, salsa, gamelan, and West African drum-dance forms. At the heart of the repertoire, however, are the musical and cultural innovations of the children themselves. They are the real stars of the ensemble, and it is their original compositions and arrangements that truly define Artism’s unique musi-cultural identity and vision.

Michael, who is Professor and Head of Ethnomusicology/World Music at Florida State University, formed the Artism Ensemble as a research and public outreach project aimed at promoting autism awareness, facilitating social and creative agency, and highlighting the abilities—rather than disabilities—of children on the autism spectrum. This music improvisation collective is made up of professional musicians from diverse world cultures plus five children, ages 7-14, with special abilities, as well as the co-participating parents of these children.

Michael Bakan is using his knowledge to improve the world, one child at a time. And he is here in Tallahassee. This is your chance to meet and get to know him, and to see what the Artism Music-Play Project is doing to change our conceptions of both autism and music. Join us for this unique opportunity to explore music in a new way.

COCA is planning more Culture Club meetings for 2011 and will decide how many we can do in 2012 with the community’s enthusiasm as the barometer.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Event Information:

Wednesday, April 27, 2011 ..........................5:30–7:30 pm

Tallahassee Little Theater; 1861 Thomasville Road

5:30-6:00 Mingle with members of the Artism Ensemble and enjoy light hors d'œuvres and a cash bar

6:00-7:30 Participate in a conversation with Michael Bakan and the Artism Ensemble

Admission:

COCA Members .......................................$10.00

General Public ......................................... $15.00

To become a COCA member, visit http://cocanet.org/about/join.html

Deadlines:

Registration Deadline ........................... 4/22- the sooner the better, because those who hesitate may miss their chance.

Registration forms available online at: http://cocanet.org/assistance/cultureclub.html

Late Registration (including at the door) is based on space availability.

Questions:

Contact the Council on Culture & Arts .........(850) 224-2500 or amanda@cocanet.org