March 17, 2014
Contact Lisa Rubinstein, LDR Creative Inc., 941-373-3803 or [email protected]
ART, DRAMA & BEST SELLING NOVELIST AT HERMITAGE BEACH READING
The Hermitage Artist Retreat invites the public to its Manasota Beach campus, 6660 Manasota Key Road in Englewood, to meet its artists, tour visual art studios and hear a playwright and novelist read from their work an hour before sunset. It all begins at 6:00 pm on Friday, March 28th. At that time, visual artists Bradley Wester and Nzuji De Magalhaes will open their studios to show and talk about their work. At 7:00 pm, the attention shifts to the beach, where playwright Y York and novelist Ann Hood will read from and talk about their work. Sunset will end the evening’s activities at 7:50. Sarasota’s Bookstore1 will be on hand for anyone interested in purchasing an autographed copy of Ann Hood’s novels, including The Obituary Writer and The Knitting Circle. Ann will also do a reading at Bookstore1 on Wednesday, March 26 at 6:00 pm.
“We’ve got another great lineup of art and artists to share with the community,” remarked Bruce E. Rodgers, executive director of the Hermitage. “Having two distinctly different visual artists is always interesting; add to that a playwright and novelist and I’d say it could be a perfect combination, with something for everyone.”
On his website, Bradley Wester says, “My work has evolved into a hybrid-practice that combines painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, and digital imaging into larger works/installations with particular and unique reference to color and light and to physical space.” Wester spends his time between NY and RI. He has taught at RISD, Ringling College, California State Summer School for the Arts and Sint Lucas Antwerpen in Belgium. He has been a visiting artist at prestigious art schools around the world as well as had solo and group shows worldwide.
Nzuji De Magalhaes was born and raised in Angola and that culture is reflected in her work, which she says “depicts vividly stereotype issues, post colonial discourse, myth, ethnicity, politics and other genres.” Now living in California, she combines art forms learned in both Africa and America. By this fusing of art forms, she strives to create work that conveys stories of both places. Nzuji continues, “There are still many misconceptions shared between Africa and the United States. I believe by exchanging ideas and information those misconceptions may change into knowledge.” Her work has been exhibited around the US and in China and has received awards in both countries. She presently teaches both art and music in CA.
Y York writes plays for both adults and children and has seen productions in many regional theaters throughout the United States. Among her many honors are four-time recipient of the New Harmony Project residency, three-time winner of New Visions, New Voices from the Kennedy Center, and three-time winner of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) Distinguished Play Award. According to The New York Times, “She makes her points by not taking herself too seriously, even as she offers astute observations about environmental, racial and family matters.”
Ann Hood began her professional life as a flight attendant for TWA. During a furlough she worked in a bookstore, while writing her first novel and when TWA went on strike and all stewardesses were “replaced,” she became a fulltime writer. Her two most recent best-selling novels are The Knitting Circle and The Obituary Writer. She has written ten other books, including two memoirs and her short stories, essays and articles have appeared in many magazines, including The New York Times, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping and More.
“Bring your beach chair, wine and whatever for a evening in the arts, as only the Hermitage can provide,” Rodgers continued. “We love sharing our artists and their art. Always inspiring and exciting to see what and hear about what’s next on their horizons.”
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About the Hermitage: The Hermitage is a not-for-profit artist retreat in Englewood, FL. It invites accomplished painters, sculptors, writers, playwrights, poets, composers and other artists for residencies on its beachfront historic campus. Artists are asked to contribute two services to the community during their stay. So far, they have touched over 11,000 Gulf Coast community children and adults with unique programs. In addition, the Hermitage awards and administers the prestigious Greenfield Prize, an annual $30,000 commission for a new work of art, rotating among visual art, music and drama. The Hermitage also partners with the Aspen Music Festival and School to award the annual Hermitage Prize to a composition student during the Festival. For more information about The Hermitage Artist Retreat, call 941-475-2098 or visit the website at www.HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
