The Hermitage Artist Retreat and the Van Wezel Foundation Present “Unscripted: Community Edition”

December 28, 2020 – Sarasota

The Hermitage Artist Retreat and the Van Wezel Foundation present “UNSCRIPTED+: Community Edition,” with arts advocate, educator, and author Eric Booth, on Thursday, January 14, at 7 p.m., via Zoom. This intimate, “off-script” series takes audiences on an insider’s journey of the artistic process, produced by award-winning writers, musicians, composers, choreographers, visual artists, educators, and other Hermitage Fellows from around the globe. Previous UNSCRIPTED programs have featured Hermitage Fellows Claire Chase (flutist, MacArthur “Genius” recipient, Avery Fisher Prize winner); Ann Patterson (visual artist, sculptor, author); Melissa Studdard (poet); Christopher Theofinidis (composer); and Patrick Harlin (composer, visual media artist). The event is offered via Zoom, and registration is required at artsUNSCRIPTED.org.

“Eric Booth has always been a passionate advocate for the arts and the essential role of teaching artists, and we are incredibly fortunate to have him as a member of the Hermitage’s National Curatorial Council,” notes Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat. “In discussing this next ‘Unscripted’ with our friends and colleagues at the Van Wezel Foundation, we decided to open this special ‘Community Edition’ of this collaborative online series to a wider audience, announcing Eric in advance to encourage attendance from members of our community who are particularly interested in arts education.”

UNSCRIPTED+ attendees will have the pleasure to interact with Booth and learn more about teaching artistry. “We invite our community to come with us for an inside perspective on arts and education. For over 30 years the Van Wezel Foundation’s mission has focused on teaching students in, through, and about the arts. We are proud to partner with the Hermitage Artist Retreat to present a teaching artist on the cutting edge of this meaningful work,” adds Cheryl Mendelson, CEO of the Van Wezel Foundation. 

In 2015, Eric Booth was honored with American for the Arts’ Arts Education Leadership Award, and was named by them as one of “the 50 most influential people in the arts in the U.S.” He began his career as a Broadway actor, and entered the world of business. (His company became the largest of its kind in the U.S. in seven years.) He is the author of seven books; his most recent is Tending the Perennials: The Art and Spirit of a Personal Religion. Booth has served on the faculty of Juilliard, Tanglewood, The Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center Education, where now he is the leader of their Teaching Artist Development Labs, and currently serves as a member of the Hermitage Artist Retreat’s National Curatorial Council. He serves as a consultant for many arts organizations (including seven of the 10 largest U.S. orchestras), cities, states, community organizations, and businesses around the U.S. A frequent keynote speaker (including the closing keynote at UNESCO’s first World Arts Education Conference and the keynote to the world’s first conference on arts and communities), Booth founded the International Teaching Artist Conferences, and was given the first honorary doctorate for a career as a teaching artist. He is often called “the father of the teaching artist profession.” As an actor, Booth performed in many plays on Broadway, Off-Broadway and around the country, playing over 23 Shakespearean roles. For more information, visit EricBooth.net.

UNSCRIPTED is a first-time partnership between the Hermitage and Van Wezel Foundation. In the spirit of the series name, there is no single venue or stage, and every performance takes place in a variety of forms and locations. Whether it be a virtual zoom room, on the beach, in a studio, or even in a private living room, each presentation is a one-of-a-kind interactive experience.  

To register for UNSCRIPTED, visit artsUNSCRIPTED.org