Heather Robb
Singer and songwriter Heather Robb wows Seaside REP By Marsha Dowler
Heather Robb is an actress, musician and writer living in Brooklyn, N.Y. As a member of the independent folk/rock trio The Spring Standards, she has released four albums, toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada, has made appearances on Conan O’Brien, NPR’s Mountain Stage and at South by Southwest and more. Robb is a teaching artist with Story Pirates, a nationally recognized non-profit serving New York schools through creative writing workshops. During her 2015 Escape to Create residency, Robb continued to write and arrange songs for a children’s musical inspired by the collaborative work of Maurice Sendak and Carol King. The musical “Karen For the Earth” explores environmental and educational themes through a female environmental heroine in music theater format. Robb’s innovative project has also received support from Johnny Mercer Writers Colony, Goodspeed Opera House, and the MacDowell Artist Colony.
During her E2C residency, Robb brought the Story Pirates educational model to teacher Brian Shost’s students at Van R. Butler Elementary School in Santa Rosa Beach. Building on a prior environmental project and water quality workshop conducted by the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, students translated their environmental concerns into a song titled “Clean It Up!” Robb’s February performance at The Seaside REP, an original melding of social narrative, music and song, earned a standing ovation and encore from a transfixed audience. Robb’s residency was supported with the gift of housing by Bert and Sue Trucksess of Seaside and Kansas City.
“The month I spent in Seaside was one filled with inspiration, beauty, community, productivity and peace,” Robb says. “The community was so supportive and warm. I never felt like an outsider, quite the opposite in fact. As soon as I arrived, I felt welcome into the ‘family’ so to speak.
It was very hard to leave!”
Escape To Create is a distinguished multi-disciplinary artist residency that has been sponsored by Seaside homeowners and merchants since 1993. In addition to working on individual creative projects, artists are required to contribute an educational and cultural component to the community during their month-long stay. During the 2015 January and February residencies, E2C artists contributed more than 100 hours to Walton County schools and the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Rosa Beach.
“I feel privileged to have joined the ranks of so many incredible Escape to Create Artists and know that the work I did here could not have happened anywhere else,” Robb says. “I will always be grateful to the amazing women who run E2C and the wonderful community for all of the support and encouragement.”
Further information about all of the Escape to Create artists can be found at lovetherep.com and at artists/escape2create.org.
Visit Escape to Create online