Solidifying Our Legacy:
A Community Poetry Reading
February 21st 7:30-9:00pm
(By Suggested Donation)

In Celebration of African-American History Month, 2026, Rockland Center for the Arts, The Gordon Center for Black Culture and Arts, and Shades Repertory Theater will bring together some of Rockland County’s most distinguished community leaders and actors to read poems and prose by our most historically notable Black literary artists of the past century. Included in the evening will be poems by the first published Black Poet Phyllis Wheatley (1773) to Amanda Gorman (2017). With literary works by WEB DuBois, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Bennett, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker among others.

Teen Open Mic Night

Saturday, February 7 - 7:00pm

Calling All Talented Teen Musicians!

2-3 songs or 10 minutes per performance.

Free to the General Public.

Sibling discount:

$40 discount per child in the same family per two week session. Checkbox below.

Album Release Party: 

Sold For Parts by Used Karmas

Saturday, June 21 at 7:00pm

Tickets: $20 suggested tax-deductible donation

Rockland Center for the Arts (RoCA) will be hosting an album release party for the Rockland-based indie band, USED KARMAS, on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at 7:00pm. 

The event will be a fundraiser for RoCA and a $20 donation is suggested to help RoCA continue its 75-year-old mission to be an essential arts destination in Rockland County.

USED KARMAS is a collaboration between James Farkas (guitars and vocals), Jeffrey Yager (drums and vocals), Steve Weissberg (guitars and vocals), and Gary Graifman (bass, guitar, keyboards and vocals) who record and perform original songs driven by an eclectic mix of influences, from rock, blues, and alt-pop, but with a distinctive sound. USED KARMAS’ new album, SOLD FOR PARTS, is now out on CD and streamers. This is USED KARMAS' second album.

RoCA hopes to see all local music fans at the release party.  Aside from great music and a worthy cause to support a snack and drink will be included with your $20 donation. So, come and meet us there!  

Honoring the Wonder and Beauty of the Spoken Word through a Diverse Group of Poets in Recognition of National Poetry Month.

Leah Kogen-Elimeliah originally from Moscow, is a poet & writer based in New York. An Adjunct Assistant Professor at The City College of New York & John Jay College, Leah is also the founder & director of WordShedNYC Reading Series & an Editorial Associate for Fiction literary magazine. She has collaborated on various poetry/visual/dance projects with independent artists, experimenting with cross genres, multimedia and poetry, and has performed her work on The Red Stage organized by Creative Time, The NYC Poetry Festival, The Higher Ground Arts Festival, and was selected as a Public Humanities/Arts Graduate Fellow for the Zip Code Memory Project supported by Columbia, CCNY, NYU, Yale and the Social Science & Humanities Research Council. Currently, Leah is crafting her debut poetry collection, working on an art project "Notes from Daughters" & a film, "Good Girl." Her writing focuses on identity, language, immigration, intergenerational trauma, sexuality and culture. Leah lives in Nyack, NY with her husband and their children.

Bryan Roessel is a poet/event organizer/science teacher in New York's Lower Hudson Valley. Bryan is one of the founders and organizers of Rockland Poets, which has held poetry open mics, slams, and workshops in and around Rockland County NY since March 2011. Bryan's been featured at a variety of poetry events, including at the Utah Arts Festival. Bryan also has exactly one poem on Button Poetry. Their poetry is mostly about science, mental health, relationships, existentialism, and gender.

Ari Mack is an actor, dance/fight choreographer, and writer. He served as the choreographer for the Ramapo High School Players in Spring Valley, NY, from 2014 to 2021, having been affiliated with the group for 16 years. He was also the choreographer for the Cultural Arts Theatre at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY, and for the Rockland Shakespeare Company (2016–2024). In addition to his choreography work, Ari is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors. He devotes himself to various forms of writing, including poetry, playwriting, and podcasting. YouTube: @AriumX, @TheAriHour. IG and TikTok: @ari_mack027

Judith Rose remains curious. She writes, she teaches, she creates, she choreographs,  she dances, she listens, she learns. She is  the director of  Vital Movement™, the wellness practice she founded, which is based in Nyack, NY. She collaborates regularly with artists in various media to create new works addressing crucial themes in contemporary life. Her belief in the healing power of the arts and the beauty of shared study salons,  continue to inspire her work, as does her ever-deepening reverence for the mystery of life.  www.judithroseVM.com

Litany Burns is a world-renowned medium, clairvoyant, lecturer, screenwriter, poet and author of Develop Your Psychic Abilities, The Sixth Sense of Children, and her new novel Goddess.Com all available on Amazon, iBooks, Google Play and featured in The 100 Top Psychics & Astrologers In America. Her poetry has been in the International Women’s Year Poetry Anthology and read at: New York University, Amnesty International Fundraiser, Hopper House Prison Art Program, Lehman College, The Nuyorican Poets Café. Having worked on the infamous ‘Son of Sam’ case she has also been featured on national and international TV, in Goop.com, New Yorker Radio Hour, popular magazines/social media and lectured nationally and internationally. Having sold a TV story to NBC and a feature film HK/LA she has several books, film/ TV projects in development. www.litanyburns.com 

Matt Pond PA

Anya Marina

Bathtub Cig

Saturday, February 1,
at 7:00pm:     Anya Marina
                         Bathtub Cig

8:30pm:          Matt Pond PA

Tickets: $25 (seniors/students $25)

Matt Pond

. . . .

From the band’s beginnings in Philadelphia, to their current home in the heart of the Hudson Valley, through 13 albums (among them Emblems, Several Arrows Later, The Dark Leaves, The State of Gold, and, most recently, the luminous The Natural Lines), Matt Pond PA has always been a living, breathing organism—one that’s constantly changing. Two notable mainstays are Pond’s longtime right-hand man, Chris Hansen, and cellist Hilary James.

. . . .

Anya Marina

A murderous girl with a spine of steel. An asteroid hurtling toward a ruminating woman. Shards of glass leading to a dark, friendly place. 

 Welcome to the provocative vision of singer-songwriter Anya Marina’s stunning new album Asteroid, her most assured work yet. Almost two decades into a distinctive career encompassing songs featured in Twilight: New Moon, Gossip Girl, and Grey’s Anatomy, an award-winning web series (Anya Marina: Indie-pendent Woman), seven albums, three EPs, and extensive touring with artists ranging from Jason Mraz to Spoon to superstar standup Nikki Glaser, the riveting performer / creative powerhouse is looking back, taking stock in song. Marina calls Asteroid “a coming-of-age story about a late bloomer. This record is about growing up, becoming fully who I am, and celebrating it.”

....

Bathtub Cig

Bathtub Cig is the intimate depression pop project of Hilary James.  Born in a Minneapolis bedroom, it is an honest attempt at coping with her long struggle with mental health.  The new EP, coming out September 2024 is entitled "Good Mourning, I love you" and is about love, loss, and moments of joy during a time of intense mourning- the death of Hilary's mom. . . .