A cup of coffee with local young artists

The Plaza Arts Center in collaboration with The Arts Barn hosted their third coffee house.

Coffee House is a monthly community event for high school students through adults. The community comes together to listen to music and theatre from young local artists while enjoying a nice beverage.

“One of my favorite things about this event is that it is a laid-back space for artists to find what works and does not work for them,” said Lori Garcia-Carreras, founder of The Arts Barn. “This is their time to shine and discover themselves.”

All donations at the event go towards helping the summer intensive theatre program. This program brings in a Broadway veteran to perform a summer show with the local community. This year, the summer show is Godspell.

“We hope to provide a space for young adult artists to enhance their craft while developing and honing their performance skills,” said Lori Garcia-Carreras. “It is very important to us to continue building community through the arts and being able to build community while raising money for our production of Godspell, this June, is just icing on the cake!”

The third Coffee House was led by a variety of performers of varying ages.

Two college graduates took the stage to sing.

Peaches, a 22-year-old Columbus State University graduate, sang “Set Fire to the Rain” and “Worse Things I Could Do.” Peaches loves to perform and has been singing since she was two years old.

“I want to thank God for this opportunity,” said Peaches. “I’m so excited for this journey to begin.”

Anenaca Simpson, a college graduate, sang and played a stringed instrument. She sang “Shenandoah” by Peter Hollens and “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.

“Music has been going very well for me,” said Simpson. “I’m always glad to have the chance to perform and I thoroughly enjoy it.”

Two of The Arts Barns performers and teachers also took to the stage. Elisa Garcia-Carreras is a junior at Lake Oconee Academy. She has been teaching clogging and guitar lessons at The Arts Barn in her free time. She sang two original songs, “Scars” and “Yellow Light.”

“These are my original songs that I wrote,” Elisa Garcia-Carreras told the crowd. “I actually finished Yellow Light just last night, so I hope you all enjoy it.”

Joseph Garcia-Carreras, a public health major at Mercer University, performed a drum solo. He has worked with The Arts Barn in the past to teach clogging and performed with them.

Several Putnam County High School students were a part of the coffee house as well.

Lylli Flanders is a senior at Putnam County High School and plans to pursue a theatre education at Columbus State University. She sang a theatre song, “A Part of That” from the production The Last Five Years.

David Trice is a sophomore at Putnam County High School and performed his first solo on stage. He sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley.

“I’m really nervous but I hope you all will love it,” said Trice to the crowd. Marielle Peguero is a sophomore at Putnam County Highschool and was a 2022 All-State Chorus participant. She sang “You Set My World on Fire” by Loving Caliber.

One student from Lake Oconee Academy closed out the night as the final solo performance.

Lucas Minton is a senior at Lake Oconee Academy and leads worship at Lakepoint Community Church. He performed “Free Falling” by Tom Petty and “Georgia on my Mind” by Ray Charles.

The event concluded with all the performers singing together to show just how connected music and theatre has not only brought them but the community.

“I want to thank the plaza, our performers, and everyone who has helped us host Coffee House,” said Lori Garcia-Carreras.

On May 17 at 7 p.m, The Plaza Arts Center and The Arts barn plan to host their first Cocoa House for younger ages. Cocoa House will be for performers in fifth through eighth grades.