Join us for Tallahassee's Arts in Education Week Announcement

Wednesday, September 15; 4:00pm at City Hall (300 S. Adams Street)

Mayor John Marks will present Leon County School Board member, Dee Dee Rasmussen with a proclamation during the City Commission meeting designating the second week in September as Arts in Eductaion Week in Tallahassee.

Inspired by the recently passed Congressional Resolution (H. Con. Res. 275) which does the same, the procalmation shows support for and celebrates all of the arts education disciplines including but not limited to dance, music, theater and visual arts.

COCA encourages all arts education supporters as well as arts educators who work within and outside of the school day to join us in the commission chambers on the second floor of City Hall at 4:00pm for this exciting announcement. Public parking is available in the Kleman parking garage and on the street.

Let's show the city just how much arts eductaion means to this community!

Imaginarium of Images: Marguerite Foxon and Stewart Nelson

The Council on Culture & Arts is pleased to present

Imaginarium of Images: Marguerite Foxon and Stewart Nelson

an exhibition at the City Hall Gallery from September 2 – November 16, 2010 as part of the Arts in Public Places program.

Through her photography, Marguerite Foxon challenges viewers to see everyday objects in a completely different way. On exhibit are images of a mesmerizing world, revealed in extreme close-ups. Her macro abstract photography captures the mysterious shades and textures of rust, the fascinating colors and designs of mold and the rich images buried in bark. Through her macro lens, intriguing shapes and patterns, colors and textures are revealed and things that are usually overlooked take on a new life. “It gives me great pleasure to find such beauty and inspiration in the discards of our society – a derelict car, an abandoned warehouse, a rusted can, a dying tree.”

Stewart Nelson combines traditional photography with computer imaging to produce digital/photographic fine art prints. After freezing a moment with his favorite camera, the Pentax Auto 110, which produces thumb nail sized negatives, Nelson manipulates the images until they evoke fading memories. He allows the film grain and processing flaws to remain, adding texture to the image. Nelson also explores digital image capture, using either a digital camera or a flatbed scanner to create art from found objects such as leaves and crushed cans. “My sense of color and texture pushes my photography beyond photorealism with the manipulation of color and light, changing their relationship and creating an altered reality.”

The exhibition is curated by the Council on Culture & Arts’ Arts in Public Places program on behalf of the City of Tallahassee. For more information about this exciting exhibition or upcoming exhibitions contact Amanda Karioth Thompson at (850) 224-2500 or Amanda@cocanet.org. For a schedule of other exhibitions and arts and culture programs throughout north Florida, visit http://www.morethanyouthought.com/. Learn more about COCA and sign up to receive COCA’s weekly email blast at http://www.cocanet.org/.

Art meets Football

In a little over a week the FSU stadium will be filled to the brim with 80,000 screaming fans anticipating the "Reign of Jimbo". No better drama than college football. Act I is a game of little consequence, unless of course the Seminoles lose. Then, we will all see the plot thicken.

But, that is not the only intersection of arts and football. No, Gaines Street and Railroad Avenue is where the arts will supply a critical Game Day demand.

Football fans, from near and far will all be searching for one thing- a place to park. There are of course ordinary parking places to choose from. But, there is only one place that will actually take your money and use it to build the exciting new Gaines Street destination known as the Arts Exchange.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, get your motors running and turn south at the corner of Gaines Street and Railroad Avenue. Look for the bunch of cool people wearing Arts Exchange T-shirts leading you to the best parking spots in town. You might recognize some of those volunteers as the young men from the world renowned Boys' Choir of Tallahassee, or dancers from the Tallahassee Ballet or, maybe even the FSU Golden Girls. One game you may be greeted by local writers and another by local musicians, all of whom are helping to build the Arts Exchange.

And, your ticket to park on game day will play a leading role in making that happen. The doors will open- oh sorry, back to the theatre analogy- the lot will open three hours before each game.
Tailgate if you'd like, walk across the street to Fat Sandwich, or mosey on over to Railroad Square and shop for some local art until it's time to stroll down to the stadium.

So, Go 'Noles. Let's go Parking for the Arts. See you on Game Day.


* The Arts Exchange parking lot does not discriminate based on school colors or affiliation. Money to park will not be refused from Bulldogs, Cougars, Demon Deacons, Eagles, Tar Heels, Tigers and especially Gators. The more you would like to give, the more we will like you.

The Council on Culture & Arts is pleased to present

The Works of Don Taylor: Creatures Great and Small

An exhibition at the Artport Gallery from August 26 – November 12, 2010 as part of the Arts in Public Places program.

As a veterinarian and a watercolorist, Don Taylor is uniquely capable of capturing not only the physical presence of animals but also their personalities. In this exhibit, Taylor presents a veritable menagerie from curious billy goats down on the farm to the mighty silverback of the African forests. The viewer can not help but connect to the spirit of these magnificent creatures when faced with Taylor’s thoughtfully composed paintings.

Taylor’s watercolors combine realism and impressionism, with a touch of abstract design. Through light, bold colors and lost edges, he strives to evoke the sense that there is more to the subject than a mere rendering. “I attempt to apply the illusion of detail in many works so that viewers can use their imagination to complete the image. Sometimes less is more.”

For more information about this or upcoming exhibitions contact Amanda Karioth Thompson at (850) 224-2500 or Amanda@cocanet.org. For a schedule of other exhibitions and arts and culture programs throughout north Florida, visit www.morethanyouthought.com. Learn more about COCA and sign up to receive COCA’s weekly email blast at www.cocanet.org.

16th Annual Fiber Arts Exhibition

July 15th - August 31st & Public Reception July 23rd

This 2010 exhibition showcases fiber art pieces composed of designs and color schemes that defy the imagination. The 16th Annual Fiber Arts Exhibition in City Hall Gallery has brought together fiber works from talented local artists of the Tallahassee Quilters Unlimited —as well as a very special selection of Quilts of Valor.

What makes this year unique is there are actually two shows in one: the first is a variety of quilts of great beauty; the second is quilts of great purpose. Quilts of Valor has created and provided more than 28,000 quilts for wounded U.S. soldiers. The national non-profit organization was started in 2003 by a woman whose son was deployed in Iraq. Since 2005, quilters from all over the country have participated in this great cause, including many local members of Quilters Unlimited, who are proud to be called “wartime quilters.” The Valor quilts in the exhibition will be sent to service members who return with physical or psychological war injuries.

For more information about the QOV Foundation, go to www.qovf.org. QOV’s goal is to cover all those service members and veterans touched by war with Quilts of Valor. For information about the Tallahassee Quilters Unlimited, contact www.quilttallahassee.com.

For further information about this exhibition, upcoming exhibitions, or COCA’s Art in Public Places program, contact Amanda Karioth Thompson at (850) 224-2500, Amanda@cocanet.org. Or find out more about COCA online at www.cocanet.org.

BOLD EDDIE BROWN: An Exhibition at Artport Gallery July 1 through August 24.

The Council on Culture & Arts is pleased to present Bold Eddie Brown, an Exhibition at the Artport Gallery from July 1^st until August 24^th as part of the Arts in Public Places program.

Eddie Brown, Sr., has two passions, he says. One is music. The other is art.

What appear to be faces emerging from stained glass dominate Eddie’s work. It is an unusual and captivating style that has few peers.

While his main media are oils and acrylics, Eddie has also used pastels and mixed media in his abstract pieces. He has been drawing and painting for more than 30 years, and his work has been exhibited internationally, as well as extensively throughout north Florida and south Georgia. His art has also been published in Warriors magazine and used commercially.

The exhibition is curated by the Council on Culture & Arts’ Arts in Public Places program on behalf of the City of Tallahassee. For more information about this program, visit www.cocanet.org.

For more information about this exciting exhibition or upcoming exhibitions contact Amanda Karioth Thompson at (850) 224-2500 or Amanda@cocanet.org. For a schedule of other exhibitions and arts and culture programs throughout north Florida, visit www.morethanyouthought.com. Learn more about COCA and sign up to receive COCA’s weekly email blast at www.cocanet.org.

Glee as Arts Education Advocacy?...ABSOLUTELY!

Let’s get this straight right off the bat, I’m a “Gleek” and have been entertained by Glee since day one. As a former cheerleader and musical theater performer, what’s not for me to love about this show? As an arts educator watching the season finale, I was more than just entertained. I was proud and moved by the message sent to viewers about what kids are really getting from their arts education experiences in school.

Glee viewers watched as a group of wildly different students came together. They started off with little in common and without the foggiest understanding of each other. In each episode, characters perpetrated and were victims of harassment and humiliation intended to preserve the natural order of high school. This recurring theme is fine for fiction but is also an unfortunate reflection of real life as confirmed by the recent upswing in bullying reports. We know that the arts teach tolerance and empathy, self-control and discipline, team-work and collaboration. Glee manages to illustrate this as viewers witness the evolution of unlikely friendships and camaraderie between disparate characters.

The arts have the power to change perceptions about kids, both of themselves and by their peers and teachers. Students who don’t fit in socially and struggle academically often shine in their arts classes, becoming stand outs in a positive way. The same is true for kids who do excel in their studies or athletics. For some of these students, participation and success in the arts prove that they are more than just their label of football player or honor roll student. We’ve watched as this very thing happened to the Glee characters.

In Glee’s season finale, I was pleased to see how much value was placed on the “journey.” Any arts educator worth their salt emphasizes the artistic process over whatever the final product happens to be (a monologue, a sculpture or an aria). Competition and judgment have a place in every disciple. Without that kind of feedback, how do we improve? That said, those components are deemphasized in arts education because the part that matters, the part that teaches us the most is the part that the judges rarely see. It’s the choices that an artist makes along the way, working out how to solve the problem, coming at it from a different angle if the first attempt doesn’t work as planned. And isn’t that the way it should be in art and in life? As Will Schuester stated, “life only really has one beginning and one end and the rest is just a whole lot of middle….Who cares what happens when we get there, when the getting there has been so much fun!”

Is it possible for a popular television show to send a message about the importance of arts education? It seems that answer is a surprising and emphatic, yes! At a time in our country when arts programs are being stripped from the educational landscape, Glee serves to illuminate what kids are actually learning in their arts classes and why that is so very important to preserve.

Watch the Glee season finale here.