PERFORMANCE

In recent years theatre has developed into a major component of programming. Four to five plays are slated for full production each year. CCftA has produced Pulitzer Prize-winning plays such as Proof by David Auburn and Edward Albee’s Seascape, a tour de force adaptation of Turn of the Screw, as well as musicals such as Sullivan and Gilbert and the historical crowd pleaser 1776.
Artistic Director Tara O’Keefe’s productions Joyful Noise and Inventing Van Gogh offered audiences a magical kinship with two geniuses, George Fredric Handel and Vincent Van Gogh.

CCftA’s commitment to community is reflected in the diversity of play selections, and in the range of talent attracted to the Center. Actors and crew travel from all over the Cape to participate in Center productions. CCftA also prides itself in the development of actors ranging in age from elementary school to retirement, actors who have decades of experience to those brave enough to step on stage for the first time.
CCftA is a true community arts center, reaching out to community members who volunteer their time and talent to be a part of Cotuit Center for the Arts.  Click Here for Audition form

EXHIBITION

Cotuit Center for the Arts has always focused its course on a thorough exploration of the arts. Classes throughout the years have led artists through every media imaginable emphasizing historic movements, contemporary concepts and possible future directions. Art exhibits are curated to give the community insightful and dynamic visions of the array of creations, and depth and scope of the creative process.
Recent exhibits “Clear Vision: Masterworks in Glass,” and “Against the Grain: Art in Wood” were regional shows each featuring the work of over 40 local artists. These large installations exemplified the diversity of technique and vision chosen by the dozens of contemporary masters working in identical media. Throughout the social history of art the role of artists in the community has evolved.
Cotuit Center for the Arts’ mission facilitates this evolution by encouraging experimentation and communication. Gallery exhibits complete the mission by archiving the successes of artistic experimentation and assuring the public’s awareness and understanding of their cultural significance.

EDUCATION

Classes in the visual arts, the majority of which are offered on an ongoing basis, are at the core of CCftA’s commitment to education. CCftA offers arts instruction in watercolor, acrylics, life drawing, stained glass, photography, oils, still life, and many other disciplines. Our artist students are accepted at all levels of experience and all ages.
Every year CCftA offers intensive week long workshops to hundreds of children and teens which offer up and coming talent an array of techniques, concepts and experiences in the visual and performing arts. This year CCftA will provide a grant driven intensive workshop which combines visual art with creative writing for gifted teens in the Gateway Program.
“Cotuit Center for the Arts has provided an invaluable art education experience for the artists at LIFE (Living Independently Forever Inc.). The center’s teachers are truly empathic and they have enabled each artist to express his/her personal artistic vision.”
-Barbara Oliver, Art Director, LIFE, Inc.
One of the most important programs we provide is on-going classes to mentally, emotionally, and physically challenged adults. In 2007 CCftA’s surprisingly successful painting classes with challenged adults from LIFE Inc. resulted in an exciting gallery exhibition. Students evolved into artists as their works were matted and framed for the very first time and hung in a formal gallery. It is an essential part of our mission to encourage individual artistic expression, and make the arts accessible to all members of our community.