COCA-Notes

Special Event: Get Into Your Outside Tallahassee (Saturday & Sunday, May 10 & 11, 2008)

Get out of the house and into Tallahassee’s outdoors. Now’s the time to step away from your TVs, computers and PDAs to head out and celebrate National Tourism Week by exploring some of the city’s best outdoor attractions and activities. Activities include canoeing, kayaking, cycling, and birding trips, downtown walking tours, carriage rides and a book signing, landscape painting and gardening demonstrations, horseback riding, golf, tennis and skateboarding activities, photo safaris, eco tours and much more! Go to VisitTallahassee.com or call the Tallahassee Area Convention & Visitors Bureau at (850) 606-2305 for a complete listing of activities and attractions.

Call to Writers: Seven Hills Contest Sponsored by the Tallahassee Writers Association (Postmark Deadline: September 30, 2008)

The Tallahassee Writers Association is now accepting submissions for their annual Seven Hills Contest. First place winners will receive $100; second $75, and third, $50. Creative nonfiction, short stories, and children’s literature entries must be no more than 2,500 words. Please see the TWA website at www.tallahasseewriters.net for complete contest rules and entry fees.

Special Event: Tallahassee Film Festival (May 15, 16 & 17, 2008)

Screenings and seminar events will take place in the downtown and Universities areas including The Florida State University Student Life Cinema, FSU Film School, All Saints Cinema (at Amtrak Train Station), the FAMU SJGC Lecture Hall, Florida History Museum Heritage Hall, and Tallahassee Community College. Some films showing in the smaller venues may get a second screening. For a full list of films showing go to www.tallahasseefilmfestival.com. All screenings before 5pm and at the Florida History Museum Heritage Hall are free, as are the educational seminars. Film screening tickets for films after 5:00 pm are $4 per screening if ordered in advance and $5 at the door. Tickets for all the screenings (free and paid) and can be reserved and printed on-line from the FSU Fine Arts ticket site www.tickets.fsu.edu http://www.tickets.fsu.edu.

Special Event: Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and Youth Orchestra

Next season the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra will perform five concerts at Bradfordville First Baptist Church, with the Holiday concerts being held at First Baptist Church in downtown Tallahassee. In order to raise awareness of the TSO’s move to new concert venues and to raise funds for the organizations, the TSO & TSYO are holding a “Move-A-Thon” on Saturday, May 17. For this 2-mile distance event, TSYO Team Con Brio and TSO Team Con Spirito are inviting the public to walk, jog, bicycle, rollerblade, skateboard, unicycle, ride in strollers or wheelchairs, or transport themselves in any other non-fueled way imaginable. Fees apply and entry forms can be found at Premier Fitness, Gold’s Gyms, Jims’ Pianos, the YMCA and Women’s World. Or, download the entry form at www.tallahasseesymphony.org. All entry fees and donations are tax deductible.

Special Event: Bark & Wine: Art for Animals Benefit (Friday, May 9, 2008, 5:30pm - 7:30m)

Enjoy live, outdoor entertainment with Kokomo Ken (parrot head style). A unique animal art event featuring paintings and portraits by local artists (including Pattie Maney and Mershell Sherman), great wine tasting and tasty nibbles! $10 summer wine tasting with "The Winery at The Red Bar", FREE General Admission. Location: Animal Service Center (By Tom Brown Park) 1125 Easterwood Drive. 30% of all art sales benefit the 400+ animals at the Animal Service Center.

Call to Visual Artists: The 621 Gallery Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition (Deadline: Postmark Deadline: May 15, 20008)

Open to US artists 18 +. Entry fee is $25 for three views of three works. Additional works $10 each. $3000 in awards, plus accommodations provided by Marriott Residence Inn. Juror: Deborah LaGrasse. Download application at www.sculpture.621gallery.org.

Call to Visual Artists: 3rd Annual All-Media National Juried Exhibition at the 621 Gallery (Deadline: May 19, 2008)

The 621 Gallery seeks entries to the 3rd Annual All-Media National Juried Exhibition to exhibit July 2008. Juror: Allys Palladino-Craig, PhD. No size or media limitations. $1000 in awards. Best in Show earns solo exhibition in 09-10 season. Download prospectus at www.anje.621gallery.org.

Art Materials Available

John Birch has scraps of Vivak plastic available for any artists that can use them. The Vivak is a quarter inch thick moldable plastic that can be cut with a saw. Contact him if you are interested in using these scraps. John can be reached at 509-1656 or birchmikesh@embarqmail.com.

COCA Announcement: Florida Senior Art Showcase (Awards Ceremony and Opening Receptions, Thursday May 15, 2008)

Florida Senior Art Showcase is a multi-venue exhibition celebrating the creative talent of Florida’s senior-aged artists. Seventy-two artists from all over the state will exhibit throughout Tallahassee as part of this collaborative exhibition. This showcase brings hand-selected artworks to five local galleries and museums: COCA’s ArtPort Gallery, The Brogan Museum of Art and Science, LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts, 621 Gallery and the Old Armory Gallery in the Tallahassee Senior Center.

The all-venue public reception, Thursday, May 15, begins at 6:00 pm at the Tallahassee Senior Center with awards announced at 6:30 pm. The public reception continues from the Senior Center to the LeMoyne, the Brogan and 621 Gallery 7-9 pm. Receptions are free and open to the public, and will serve refreshments.

Special Event: Mother’s Day at the Tallahassee Museum (Sunday, May 11, 2008)

Treat mom to a special day at the Tallahassee Museum on Mother's Day. Moms get in free this Sunday when accompanied by a paying guest. Shady nature trails, native and exotic animals, educational exhibits, a playground, a cafe, and more. For more information, call (850) 575-8684, or visit online at www.tallahasseemuseum.org.