'Music Moves Marion': MCA, NOMA Records bring music series to Ocala's growing arts scene
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Marion County residents should prepare to move and groove this month with a new art exhibit, "Music Moves Marion," that will feature music-inspired art and live music performances all month long.
The series is the work of the Marion Cultural Alliance, which also brought on local recording studio NOMA Records as a sponsor. The two organizations and other partners will help spread music throughout Ocala as part of a growing live music and arts scene downtown and throughout the county.
While MCA picks a different exhibit theme each month and occasionally incorporates musical performances, the "Music Moves Marion" series represents a bigger intentional focus on music than previous exhibits.
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"As part of our strategic plan for Marion Cultural Alliance, we wanted to make sure that we were embracing all of the arts, not just the visual,” MCA Chairperson Lisa Midgett said, noting that Gallery Director Ashley Justiniano chose the theme.
Series will include art exhibit, music, dance party and more
The series kicks off Friday, June 3, at MCA’s Brick City Center for the Arts, 23 SW Broadway St., Ocala, from 5 to 7 p.m. with an opening reception. Evelyn of NOMA Records will perform live, and a new exhibit at the gallery will feature art inspired by music.
The Fiery Chef will cater the free reception, and there will be a chance to win a print from artist Mel Fiorentino. Art Army Ocala will also be unveiling a community art piece recently created at one of the Levitt AMP Ocala concerts.
The remainder of the month’s lineup includes:
Becky Sinn Live: Thursday, June 16 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Brick City Center for the Arts (Free)
The Artful Voice Workshop with Jennifer Foster: Saturday, June 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Brick City Center for the Arts (Free)
Ecliff Live: Thursday, June 23 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Brick City Center for the Arts (Free)
Levitt AMP Ocala with MCA: Friday, June 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Webb Field, 1510 NW Fourth St. (Free)
PRIDE Celebration, "Aren't We Faaaaabulous! Priscilla Queen of the Desert Screening and Dance Party": Film and dance party 5:30 to 11 p.m., Friday, June 24 ($25) or dance party only 8 to 11 p.m. ($15) at the NOMA Black Box at Reilly Arts Center, 500 NE Ninth St. (Tickets at reillyartscenter.com/events/priscilla/)
There will also be live poetry, bucket drumming and limbo with Sean T Music Global every Friday during the summer from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Brick City Center for the Arts courtyard as part of MCA Courtyard Jams.
“This collaboration with NOMA Gallery, NOMA Records, and the Reilly Center for the Arts is a wonderful example of how our creative community seeks ways to collaborate,” MCA Executive Director Jaye Baillie stated in a press release. “Ocala/Marion County is unique in that the arts nonprofits and arts for profit organizations believe that partnerships like 'Music Moves' and the PRIDE Celebration are ways to use art to create opportunities to inspire and challenge us all.”
NOMA Records brings artists, support to Ocala's music scene
Along with a growing live music scene between Levitt AMP Ocala concerts and performances at the Ocala Downtown Market, restaurants and other venues, NOMA Records is helping put Ocala on the map when it comes to music.
NOMA Records, located above the NOMA Gallery at 939 N. Magnolia Ave., is led by CEO Robert “Big Bert” Smith and his wife, Chief Marketing Officer Xochi Smith. David and Lisa Midgett are also founding partners.
The company is an independent record label that hand selects artists to record their music. Though NOMA Records has been a new venture over the past couple years, Bert is a seasoned veteran in the industry, having worked with Michael Jackson, the Spice Girls, Brandy, Enrique Iglesias and Toni Braxton.
“Music is life for me personally and for us here at NOMA,” he said last month at the studio, noting NOMA Records is always looking for ways to support music in the community.
When Midgett learned of the "Music Moves Marion" theme, she saw NOMA Records as a natural sponsor.
“As a record label and as arts advocates, we want to make sure that artists get paid, and exposure can’t pay your electric bill,” she said. “So with MCA being able to have a sponsor like this come in, we were able to pay performers.”
NOMA Records is also now an official "Business pARTner" of MCA.
Marion County arts at the beginning of an explosion
“Where would we be without music? Oh my God. One of the things that I think is unique to Marion County and Ocala, I noticed when I first moved here 11 years ago, was they had a bustling scene of musicians performing at different locations,” Robert Smith said.
Smith noted Evelyn, who will be performing at the opening reception, is a very talented local songwriter, guitarist and musician. Another local, Blakespeare, is a “prolific songwriter and singer in his own right.”
“There's talent. Florida is ripe with talent,” he said. “We're just now like really getting down to the nitty-gritty and searching and finding.”
The Smiths noted that Ocala is strategically placed between the Miami and Atlanta music markets. Between the Reilly Arts Center, the World Equestrian Center and other venues, they believe Ocala is in the beginning of an entertainment explosion.
“We do have a very state-of-the-art facility here,” Xochi Smith said, noting many people don’t realize they aren’t a studio for rent but an independent label. “So 'Music Moves Marion' is exciting to me because we're here. We just happen to be in Ocala and we're in Marion County, and that's exciting.”
Midgett agreed the Marion County arts scene is growing like never before.
“There's something explosive happening in our community in all of the arts, including music, and it’s just I guess the right people at the right time doing the right things,” she said.
Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: MCA and NOMA Records partner for June music exhibit in Ocala
