The mission of the Culture Coach is to bring live music and the arts to our city’s neighborhoods so that all are able to participate as audience or actors in these activities without regard to economic status or where they live. The Culture Coach, a traveling pop-up stage owned and programmed by Kuumba Renaissance activates streets, alleys, parking lots, parks and other informal places where peopl
e gather. The Culture Coach, formerly called the Stagecoach and home to the Stagecoach Players who had performed in Madison parks since 1948, began operation in 2006 under the aegis of Kuumba Renaissance and the Madison Center for Creative and Cultural Arts (MCCCA). The Culture Coach arrived in Chicago in 2012 where it has partnered with Elastic Arts, the Chicago Park District, and the Dept. of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The fact that the Culture Coach is a traveling “pop-up” venue with all the equipment needed to stage a professional event almost anywhere in the City has been recognized as unique by these Chicago City agencies, and continues to be hired to provide arts and culture events to under-served and economically challenged residents of the City.
