When Cameron Booth is making decisions about who will perform at Dogwood Dell, he engages in what he calls “radical programming.” But that doesn’t mean he’s finding weird acts on the fringe. “It’s a thoughtful process and targeted at bringing in a more diverse audience,” he says. “And it drums up a lot of attention.”
That attention brought record crowds to the Dell for its 2024 Festival of the Arts with one act, the rapper Mad Skillz, drawing an estimated 14,000 fans to the historic venue tucked away beside the Carillon in Byrd Park. This year’s program was the first Booth organized since taking the job of recreation services supervisor in February, but it’s indicative of the direction he’s looking to take the summer-long festival.
“We want our programming to change over time to accommodate our changing city, while also maintaining familiar traditions,” he says. “The Dell is a special space, it’s a community space, and I want to make the events that happen there exciting, fresh and fun.”
Booth graduated from VCU with a bachelor of fine arts degree and he still taps into his artistic skills, sometimes surprising his colleagues. “When we were putting on [the musical] ‘Firebringer,’ one of the last big parts was to create these two huge puppets,” he remembers. When they couldn’t find a local puppeteer who could do the work in time, Booth volunteered. “My staff all looked at me like I was crazy,” he laughs. “I realized they didn’t even know I was an artist.”
Excitement for planning events has been his motivator for more than a decade, working first for the Children’s Museum and then the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. He still helps out at VMFA occasionally as a family events technician. “I couldn’t let that go because I enjoy it so much,” he says. And when Booth books an act to perform at the Dell, he wants them to know he’s not just there to hand over a paycheck, he’s also a fan.
“I think it’s important to show up for the artist,” he says. “So I’m going to put on my best purple outfit for Anthony Cosby’s Prince tribute show or my best ‘60s and ‘70s gear for [classic rock tribute band] The English Channel. I really do support them and want them to succeed on my stage.”
“This isn’t just some job,” Booth says. “This is about community and it’s about the arts and it’s about passion.”
