FLORIDA TEACHING ARTISTS PERFORM AT HERMITAGE EVENT
The Hermitage Artist Retreat is pleased to host the Association of Florida Teaching Artists (AFTA) at a free beach event on Friday, October 2nd, on their Manasota Key campus, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood. The public is invited to enjoy open studios of visual art, followed by music and story-telling beach performances. The studios will open at 5:00 pm and at 6:00 the program moves to the beach in front of the Hermitage campus. Simply bring your beach chairs or blankets and any refreshments. The program will continue until Mother Nature’s sunset draws it to a dramatic close.
“This is the third year that AFTA has used our facility as a location for their annual meeting place,” explained Hermitage Executive Director Bruce E. Rodgers. “Their beach program is in keeping with what our Fellows present and another way for us to share talented artists with the community. We look forward to having them with us and sharing their art.”
Participating visual artists will be Tanya Gergel, Judy Levine, Lori Loveberry George, Faith Keller, Amy Webber and Ellen Goldberg-Tishman. Beach performers include Bill Schustik, American troubadour, who will entertain by singing songs and telling tales of pirates. Magician Yazoo will stroll and entertain guests with his mystifying fetes. Kuniko Yamamoto will tell tales of Japan using origami and magical humor. Mary Kelly and Gladys Varga will spark your imagination and your funny bone with their stories of people and places which have inspired their original performances. Scott Blum, percussionist and composer, concludes with an interactive session of drumming, creating a unique sound to celebrate the sunset.
Cancellation or change of venue due to weather will be decided by 3:00 on the afternoon of October 2nd. For more information or in case of questionable weather, please call
941-475-2098, ext 5.
The Hermitage is a not-for-profit artist retreat located at 6660 Manasota Key Road in Englewood, FL. It invites accomplished painters, sculptors, writers, playwrights, poets, composers and other artists from all over the world for residencies on its beachfront historic campus. Artists are asked to contribute two services to the community during their stay and as a result, Hermitage artists touch thousands of Gulf Coast community residents with unique and inspiring programs each year. All Hermitage community programs are partially sponsored by the Women’s Exchange and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. In addition, the Hermitage awards and administers the prestigious Greenfield Prize, an annual $30,000 commission for a new work of art, rotating among three disciplines: 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.
