MISSION STATEMENT
To foster an appreciation and understanding of a vast assortment of cultures by presenting the arts as a tool for education for individuals of all ages and social backgrounds through music-based workshops, lectures, and performances. Community Arts and Culture provides under-served neighborhoods with a platform to participate in cultural arts programs and experiences and nurtures an array of local and international musical artists that exemplify the diversity of our South Florida community.
Community Arts and Culture (CAC) Est. 2002 is a 501C3 Miami-based nonprofit organization that strives to intergenerationally celebrate and inspire the community through the cultivation, preservation, and presentation of cultural music and arts. Through music-based workshops, lectures, performances, and after-school youth programs, CAC provides under-served areas of South Florida with an accessible platform to participate in cultural programs and experiences. We cherish our South Florida traditions and believe that our past should inform our future and that bringing together diverse groups of people can create new approaches to cultural understanding. CAC believes that we have an obligation to the community to promote collaboration, engage unlikely allies, and encourage participation in the creative process.
CAC organizational history
Est 2002 Community Arts and Culture, INC. has proudly produced 20 years of the Afro Roots Festival. First produced in 1999, the Afro Roots Festival started at Tobacco Road and has been staged at various locations throughout South Florida. For the festival's 20th anniversary, the organization presented 20 shows during six months and expanded its reach into Alachua, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties. Afro Roots, now regional, spans from Gainesville to Jupiter to Miami to Islamorada and from Miami Beach to Doral. Making it one of Florida's only touring festivals
2012-2017 Miami Beach, CAC produced five seasons of A Day at the Beach Concert Series. These programs were created in partnership with the Rhythm Foundation, and the North Beach Bandshell. The events provided a professional performing platform for youth ensembles to the School of Rock, Miami Beach High Rock Ensemble, and Guitars Over Guns.
2014 The Afro Roots Festival receives The Knight Arts Challenge Award
2018 Executive and Artistic Director Jose Elias was acknowledged as a Knights Art Champion by the Knight Foundation in recognition of his contribution to the South Florida community through the arts. Afro Roots expands into Monroe and Palm Beach Counties and continues to be part of Afro Roots’ annual programming.
Day of the Dead Ancestral Celebration as part of our Inheritants Project is implemented for the first time. The program collaborates with The Doral Yard and presents Afro-Mexican culture and folklore and traditional interactive arts for youth and families in a community setting and is ongoing annually.
Est 2019 Afro Roots Festival was named Best Music Festival by the Miami New Times. CAC is annually hosted by media sponsors and NPR Broadcasting, Peabody Award-Winning Afropop Worldwide.
Live Arts Miami and the Rhythm Foundation co-present Afro Roots.
Est 2022 Afro Roots was established in Alachua County in co-production with The University of Florida: CAME Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship, which continues as an annual production.
Est 2023 Afro Roots: Odara, Afro-Cuban Convening is implemented in Alachua County in co-production with The University of Florida: CAME Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship, which continues as an annual program.
Est 2023 A Great Day at Oak Grove Park, community concert and music-making workshops for youth 10- 13 years of age and active adults over 50 years of age, in collaboration with The Miami Light Project and Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation.