The Funk Music Hall of Fame & Exhibition Center's video: The Funk Box Experience Moving forward w Music Education for our Youth Reception to unveil 11 6 21

The Funk Box Experience Moving forward with "Music Education for our Youth" Sponsored by The Funk Music Hall of Fame & Exhibition Center A Funky Reception Benefiting The Funk Center's Music Education Program Introducing, "The Digital Funk Box"! Join the funky reception to unveil this traveling interactive exhibit created to teach youth about the rhythms and impact of Funk music. This event is scheduled before the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra's "Rockin' Orchestra Series." We are saluting Dayton, Ohio's Funk Music (purchase tickets separately from the DPO if you'd like to stay for the concert). Enjoy Funk tunes provided by Stan "The Man" Brooks, plus complimentary appetizers and Warped Wing Root Beer. Tickets are on sale for $20 on Eventbrite's website. Click on this link for more information. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/funk-box-reception-tickets-178201173507 Date and time for this event is on Saturday November 6, 2021 at 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EDT at Schuster Performing Arts Center 1 West 2nd Street Dayton, OH 45402. Masks and proof of vaccination or negative Covid test required for entry into the Shuster Center per the policy of Dayton Live: https://www.daytonlive.org/about/health-safety/ Despite the fact The Funk Center does not currently have a physical space, the museum is in the process of planning an expansion that includes interactive content on its website and a traveling exhibit. In March 2019, The Funk Center, which celebrated its grand opening in 2018, announced the closure of its physical museum space in downtown Dayton’s Fire Blocks District due to issues with a new developer. Currently, TheFunkCenter is seeking donations from the public to help create their dream space. Donations can be made to this effort by visiting TheFunkCenter’s website. The Funk Center has been busy spreading the word about the importance of funk music through a number of ventures such as a cable access television show featuring interviews with funk musicians and other newsworthy items available on YouTube. One of The Funk Center’s latest creations is The Dayton Scene Radio Show, hosted by The Funk Center's President & CEO David Webb, Trent D’Arby and Jasmine Summers, which features interviews with funk musicians in order to better understand the impact of the genre. Recently, The Funk Center, in collaboration with Columbus-based EduTechnologic LLC and a group of Ohio State University students, launched two brand new interactive visualization interfaces on their website. The first “visualization” is a searchable timeline embedded with information and videos regarding the history of funk music. The other “visualization” allows users to type in any funk artist, song or album into a search bar, and from there, will be presented a musical discography and history of that funk artist, song or album through embedded features like Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, YouTube and Wikipedia articles. “The visualization interface is specifically targeted at a younger demographic, allowing people to create their own musical journey,” said Brad Henry, CEO EduTechnologic LLC. “It moves beyond a basic web search by aggregating information into a highly visual experience. When done correctly, visualizations can be fun and engaging, and I believe we have done just that. One of the next steps will be to work with educators to develop a curriculum that promoted music education and to be an inspiration to future funkateers.” The Funk Center is also hoping to bring the funk to a space near you. Back in 2019, Joseph Karadin, the executive creative director of TESSELLATE, contacted Webb to create some sort of traveling museum exhibit. Two years later, TESSELLATE and TheFunkCenter collaborated to create the Funk Box. Essentially shaped like a musician’s road case, the Funk Box is a hands-free, motion-activated exhibit that allows users to create their very own funk music simply by moving their hands over the sensors associated with different instruments. “When you move your hand around, it moves the cursor around on the screen in front of you,” said Karadin. “So, it allows you to have a touchscreen experience without actually touching the screen. And so, as you wave your hand over the sensor, it’ll pull up different music samples. It’ll pull up the drums, and then it’ll pull up the guitar and the bass. You’ll basically be able to start adding different instruments to the song as you’re moving your hand over the sensors.” In order to create the sound clips used in the Funk Box, TESSELLATE and The Funk Center enlisted the help of multiple funk musicians, including Vernon Porter, African American Studies professor Scot Brown and Joseph Wooten of the Steve Miller Band. The Funk Center’s Funk Box is set to be finished in November of 2021. Webb hopes to bring the traveling exhibit to learning spaces like libraries, colleges, schools and private gatherings. ©2021 The Funk Music Hall of Fame & Exhibition Center. All rights reserved.