Meek Center Starts New NPR-Style Tiny Desk Concert Series
Chimene Garrison knows the power of Miami Dade College.
As the daughter of a single mother who immigrated from Haiti, she knew that moving away for college was not an option.
So after graduating from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1988, she continued her educational journey at MDC.
“I believe in the College, because I’ve seen not just myself, but other people that have come through and it’s been the place that helped them to [accomplish] their dreams,” Garrison said.
Garrison, who earned an associate degree from North Campus in 1991, also started working there part-time in the financial aid department.
She worked her way up from a financial aid adviser to director of the department at North Campus from 2003 to 2023. Two years ago, she became executive director of the Carrie P. Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center, 6300 N.W. Seventh Ave., in Liberty City that serves 2,150 students.
To continue serving that legacy, Garrison launched Center Stage @ Meek, an NPR-Style Tiny Desk Concert Series dedicated to connecting students with MDC alumni who have been successful in the arts.
Among the talent who have participated in the series since it launched in June: actor Béchir Sylvain, who starred in Jurassic World: Dominion, spoken word artist Calvin Made-S.O.N., Dominican musician Bozaq TBG and visual artist Surfer Wolf.
“It gives the community the opportunity to see someone that they can aspire to be,” Garrison said. “It gives them hope.”
The series takes place every third Saturday of the month in Room 1109. Episodes are divided into two parts that occur on the same day. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show concludes at 8 p.m.
Part one is a live interview, which is moderated by Garrison. An hour-long intermission is held afterwards allowing the audience to have a meet and greet with the guest.
“People are able to enjoy themselves, take pictures, and just be with the artist,” said Joshua Arjona, who serves as Student Services Director at the Meek Center.
Each show concludes with a live performance.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do here with Center Stage @ Meek,” Garrison said. “To see the way that our students and community can feed off of each other with the art that they are producing right in the room, is pretty electrifying.”
The next performance will be on Nov. 15. It will feature the Miami Pixel Quintet, a local nonprofit orchestra that plays anime and video game music with woodwind instruments. Among the musicians who will perform are Angel Hernandez, who serves as director of learning resources at North Campus and is co-founder of Miami Pixel Symphony.
“We want to expose and share this love and passion that we have for this music to the community, educate them, and show the importance that it has on basically anything that we watch and consume,” Hernandez said.
Click here to subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter, The Hammerhead. For news tips, contact us at mdc.thereporter@gmail.com.
