Celebrating 10 Years

Amy Tan, novelist, resident artist @ The Betsy Hotel - artist salon.png

Adrian Castro, Shaman Poet @ The betsy.jpeg

Alixis Caputo, Artist, and Rosie Gordon Wallace, Curator.jpeg

Andrea Assaff Reading @ The Betsy Hotel.jpg

Ashley M. Jones, 3 time visiting Betsy Poet is now Poet Laureate of Alabama..png

AS King - YA Writer - presenting at FIU, as part of her Betsy Residency.jpg

Avi Hoffman's Yiddish Salon @ The Betsy.jpg

Jill Biolosky, Poet, Poetry Reading in the Library @ The Betsy.PNG

Michael Halsband, Ike Ude, Deb Willis - Art Salon @ The Betsy.PNG

Brian Blanchrfield, AAP Poet @ The Betsy.jpeg

Celebrating Literature - welcoming the US Poet Laureate to The Betsy - February 2016 (1).jpg

Chen Hove reading in BBar @ The Betsy.jpeg

Deb Willis, MacArthur Genius Award Winning Writer and Photographer @ The Betsy Hotel (1).jpg

Ruth Behar, Writer_Performer @ The Betsy.jpeg

Escribe Aqui_Write Here - full audience in Carlton Room @ The Betsy Hotel.jpg

Rosie Gordon Wallace, Carole Boyce Davis, Deb Willis, curators, creators, writers @ The Betsy Hotel.JPG

Peter Lolndon Dance presenting at Escribe Aqui_Write here.jpg

Out of my life I fashioned a fistful of words. When I opened my hands they flew away.’ Hyam Plutzik (1911-62)

The Betsy Writers Room was created in homage to poet Hyam Plutzik (HyamPlutzikPoetry.com) and in recognition of the historic 'writing rooms' that existed in 1940's hotels. Our vision was to create a space for experienced and emerging artists to 'get started' or 'finish' challenging work. This year we welcomed our 1000th visiting artist. ‘

We're often asked how we got from here to there, from idea to action, in creating the space. For the conceptual design, we looked at the writing spaces of great storytellers, from Emily Dickinson to Keith Richards (and so many others). We also explored great artist respites like Yaddo and MacDowell and we looked at contemporary 'writing rooms' that are popping up all over the world, from NYC to Hamburg. To design the actual residency program we reached out to the SoFLA creative community to hear what they were looking for in a space to rest, renew, and create. For the interior design of the space, we worked with designers from DACRA as well as with The Betsy's own interior designers, Carmelina Santoro and Diamante Pedersoli, who have a knack for making shared spaces feel like 'at home' places.

The Betsy Writer's Room has been awarded two Arts Challenge grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (2012 and 2015), and has received myriad accolades including commendation from Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce (2016), Americans for the Arts (2017), Cultured Magazine (2021), the Arts and Business Council-Miami (2023), and the Academy of American Poets (forthcoming, 2023). Seed funding and ongoing support for the program comes from Jonathan Plutzik and Lesley Goldwasser, co-owners of The Betsy Hotel, and co-presidents of The Plutzik Goldwasser Family Foundation. Deborah Plutzik-Briggs, VP of Arts and Community Engagement at The Betsy, and Director of The Betsy Community Fund @ The Miami Foundation, is the founder and director of The Betsy Writer's Room.

Celebrating 10 Years

The Betsy Writer’s Room