The Betsy invites you to a weekly wine & cheese reception hosted by hotel owner, Jonathan Plutzik. Take an hour to get to know the Artist in Residence as part of The Betsy Writer's Room residency program.
Octavia Yearwood is a multi-media artist, author, and motivational speaker from New York City. Yearwood's work with youth and various nonprofit organizations using the arts has reached youth in New York City to Kathmandu, Nepal over the last 15 years. In 2016, Yearwood was named "American Express Emerging Leader" by Americans for the Arts and one of Miami's top 40 leaders under 40. Yearwood's debut book, "How The Hell Did You Do That?!" is targeted at overlooked foster and sexually abused youths, in addition to those seeking to break past adversity. Yearwood continues to provide innovative and multi-sensory approaches to her mediums of expression as a form of inclusion and does various speaking engagements and workshop facilitation to assist organizations properly provide for the populations they serve.
Carlos Andrés Cruz is both an artist and a philosopher passionate about finding a new meaning to life. His philosophy focuses on spreading a humanist education that encourages idealists to dream big and pursue their dreams through the awakening of their individual talent. In close collaboration with his wife Sandra, his son, Gabriel, Amón, his faithful dog, and his beloved friends he is working on finding and developing simple strategies that contribute to make a better world. He is known for La Fotoperreria his most recent photography project that aims to strengthen and enrich the relationship between humans and dogs.