April 26
COCAcabana: Kaleidoscope
Celebrating Community, Culture & the Arts
COCAcabana, COCA’s annual fundraiser, is a dynamic and creative spring event that draws more than 500 business and community leaders for cocktails and dinner, silent and live auctions, artistic performances, special celebrity guests, and imaginative themes that are uniquely COCA.
Started in 1988, COCAcabana sustains COCA’s work throughout the community, which provides arts programming in schools without access to arts education and offers scholarships for students to participate in COCA programs. Accounting for nearly 20 percent of COCA’s annual contributed revenue, COCAcabana is crucial to continuing this vital work.
COCAcabana: Kaleidoscope is SOLD OUT! Tickets to COCAcabana: Kaleidoscope After Hours, our late night party starting at 9:00PM, are still available for purchase.
Meet our 2024 COCAcabana Alumni Chair, Bahja Johnson
Bahja Johnson is a dynamic fashion and diversity & inclusion leader, with proven success leveraging inclusion as a catalyst for innovation, and innovation to drive growth and change within the retail industry. In her current role as Head of Equality & Belonging at Gap Inc., Bahja focuses on cultivating a culture of belonging for employees, delivering inclusive products and experiences for customers and communities, and enabling the end-to-end integration of the Equality & Belonging strategy across the Gap Inc. portfolio.
Bahja first joined COCA in 1998, taking Jazz I as a student of the incomparable Ms. Lee Nolting. Bahja went on to join COCA’s Pre-Professional Division, taking classes in jazz, ballet, modern, and tap. She continued dancing in high school as part of the Dance Squad and yearly Dance Show at the John Burroughs School in St. Louis and went on to join the Quaker Girls Dance Team at the University of Pennsylvania as a student at The Wharton School. As a proud COCA alumna, Bahja maintains a love of dance as a student at the Alvin Ailey Extension in New York City.
COCAcabana Auction & Raffle
Preview Live Auction items, start bidding on the Silent Auction, and purchase your raffle tickets for the evening.
The Live Auction has tons of incredible, once-in-a-lifetime items up for bid! Live Auction items are only available to COCAcabana ticket holders to bid on during the event on Friday, April 26. Preview Live Auction Items
Anyone can bid in the Silent Auction! You don’t need to attend COCAcabana to snag an awesome Silent Auction item, all you need do is create an account and bid on your favorite items now up until 10:30PM on Friday, April 26. View & Bid on Silent Auction items
SAY Yes! to Support Arts for Youth
COCAcabana sustains our work in the community by raising funds for COCA’s SAY Yes appeal, which helps ensure increased and equitable access for students to experience, learn from, and excel in the arts. SAY Yes to Support Arts for Youth and help COCA further our reach.
Your gift to COCA’s SAY Yes appeal could provide tuition for a Pre-Professional Division student, arts residencies at a school, transportation for students, registration for campers to attend our Summer Arts Camps, and more.
Become a COCAcabana Sponsor
Interested in sponsorship opportunities and benefits for COCAcabana? Contact Virginia Howell at 314.561.4870.
COCAcabana 2023: Electric Oasis
Thank you for your support of COCAcabana 2022: Electric Oasis. The event helped raise more than $840,000 to ensure access to arts programming for our creative community.
COCAcabana Sponsorships and Donations
Contact Virginia Howell, Director of Individual & Corporate Engagement, at vhowell@cocastl.org to find out how you can support COCAcabana.
COCAcabana 2024 Sponsors
Special Thanks: Drybar; First Bank; Hacienda Mexican Restaurant; IT Solutions, Inc; Lathrop GPM LLP; Lodging Hospitality Management; Ogletree Deakons; Pure Entertainment; Raising Canes; S.M. Wilson & Co.