Clowns of America International


Clowns of America International, Inc. is a Minnesota-based nonprofit clown arts membership organization which aims "to share, educate, and act as a gathering place for serious minded amateurs, semiprofessionals, and professional clowns". It provides its members with resources to refine their characters as well as maintaining a strict code of ethics. In addition to the cooperative nature of the group and its annual conventions, it also provides several scholarship opportunities to young men and women.
Formerly Clowns of America, COAI was founded in its current form in 1984. In the early 1980s Clowns of America had financial problems. This led to its breakup and the founding of COAI and the World Clown Association.
It comprises numerous "alleys", local clown clubs which act as meeting places for members, and general membership is available to anyone 16.

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