History
The Center of Creative Arts (COCA) (6880 Washington) has been serving the community through the arts for more than 35 years and annually serves more than 50,000 people. The fourth-largest multidisciplinary community arts center in the country, COCA is home to education, performance, and gallery spaces and facilitates access to dance, music, theater, art, and design for community members of all ages and backgrounds.
Education
COCA offers a variety of camps and arts classes, from early childhood options to adult classes and intensives. In addition to teaching through their own studios, galleries, and theaters, COCA reaches into schools and community spaces to offer arts education outside their walls.
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The organization’s approach to education is rooted in Studio Habits of Mind, a framework developed by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The eight habits are to develop craft, engage and persist, envision, express, observe, reflect, stretch and explore, and understand art worlds. Through these habits, students become better, more engaged artists, whether they’re amateurs or early professionals. Classes are offered for a full year, full semester, 7 weeks, and as one-time experiences. For a full list of class offerings, visit cocastl.org/arts-classes.
Spaces
Catherine B. Berges Theatre: This state-of-the-art, 450-seat theater is home not only to COCA performances, but also to productions from The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Black Rep, The Big Muddy Dance Company, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Staenberg Performance Lab: This studio, rehearsal hall, and theater is home to more intimate performances, such as the Improv Troupe Fall Performance and COCAwrites Festival productions, as well as dance and theater education.
Millstone Gallery: COCA’s art gallery is free and open to the public. The airy space welcome visitors to engage with contemporary art through exhibitions, gallery talks, workships, classes, lectures, and other programming. “My goal is to make the Millstone Gallery a place that is accessible for everyone,” curator in residence Karla Aguilar Velasquez told us earlier this year, “so it doesn’t feel like you need to know about art or you need to follow the art world to enter into the gallery.”
Studios: COCA is home to several dance, theater, vocal, and media-enhanced studios. These spaces are used for COCA classes, but can also be rented out by the wider community for rehearsal or filming needs.
Performance Highlights
Each year, COCApresents—the organization’s signature performance season—and its many performance spaces offer myriad opportunities to experience COCA artists in action. Here are a few highlights to keep an eye out for:
Spring
COCAwrites Festival: Each year, the COCAwrites Festival brings a full production of a professional work to the stage, in addition to a student showcase. The COCAwrites Program is dedicated to the “writing and development of new plays for multigenerational theatre audiences through collaboration and learning among professional and student playwrights and composers.”
TRIumphant: COCA’s annual spring repertoire offers audiences a chance to experience the organization’s three pre-professional dance companies: Ballet Eclectica, COCAdance, and COCA Hip-Hop Crew. It’s a full weekend of dance composed of works from various talented choreographers.
Summer
COCA Summer Musical: Each summer, COCA presents a Broadway hit on the Catherine B. Berges Theatre stage. This year, audiences can catch Stephen Schwartz’s Pippin, the Tony Award-winning tale of a young prince searching for a path to greatness, June 20–23. Shanara Gabrielle will direct, and Christopher Page-Sanders will choreograph.
Fall
Vocal Company Fall Concert: COCA is home to some of St. Louis’ best young vocal talent, and each spring and fall, they share that talent with the community through a Vocal Company Concert. The fall performance featured an array of works that highlight these up-and-coming talents, coached by Vocal Company Co-Directors Alicia Revé Like and Jermaine Manor.
Winter
The Little Dancer: COCA’s beloved holiday tradition, The Little Dancer was revamped in 2022 into The Little Dancer: Moments in Time. The full-length classical ballet, reimagined by renowned choreographer and creative director Kevin Jenkins, is performed by COCA’s Ballet Eclectica.
