The Plaza Arts Center and The Arts Barn are so excited for the continued collaboration of the  Coffee House series this year!

For each Coffee House, The Plaza and The Arts Barn look for a range of entertainment. Lake Country high schoolers to young adults are invited to perform. Whether it’s  a song, a dance, a poetry reading, a performance of a short scene from a play, or even a stand  up comedy act, each Coffee House that has been held has brought on a host of talented youth. Sipping coffee and enjoying music, everyone at the first Coffee House of the year, held at The  Old School History Museum, had a blast.

There was a fantastic energy in the air as students from surrounding schools joined together for  an evening of song. Hunter Cousino, Keira Hopkins, and Cameron Lawson, students from  Putnam County High School performed at the Coffee House. Joining the talent were two  students from Lake Oconee Academy, Elisa and Lily Garcia-Carreras.

What is so neat about the Coffee Houses is that not only are high schoolers invited to perform,  college students come out and share their talents, too. Helen Garcia-Carreras from Georgia  College and Nathan Smith from The Atlanta Institute of Music and Media joined The Plaza and  The Arts Barn for the first 2023 Coffee House.

Students are often joined by young adults who are already working in their field. These  performers want a place to perform and let loose. Anenaca Simpson, and Angel Monroy are  two fine examples of this. Anenaca performed for the audience, while Angel worked backstage as the sound technician for the evening.

The nostalgic Old School History Museum was the perfect venue for the first Coffee House of  the year. The audience drank coffee, enjoyed cake pops and of course, popcorn from the vintage popcorn machine.

Towards the end of the event, founder and director of The Arts Barn, Lora Garcia-Carreras, came forward to reminisce on last year’s first Coffee Houseevent. It had nearly been canceled because of the start of the Ukraine and Russian conflict, which happened to be on the same
day.

However, the decision was made to move forward with the event because “the world needs more young people coming together and sharing their talents," which is precisely what happened that night, and during the Coffee Houses since.

All proceeds from each Coffee House help fund the Broadway Summer Intensive, another area in which our talented youth and young adults shine.

The Plaza Arts Center and The Arts Barn are thrilled to continue this tradition. The next Coffee Houses are scheduled for March 17th, April 13th and May 18th at 7 p.m. The locations for each event will be announced at a later date. Coffee Houses are FREE to attend and for information on how to perform at a Coffee House, email [email protected]. Don’t miss out on these amazing opportunities to see some wonderful local talent.