The $40,000 grant will be directed to expand community programming andto launch a Hermitage North program.
(June 23, 2020) The Hermitage Artist Retreat recently received a $40,000 grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. These funds will be used to expand community programming, visibility, and engagement as the Hermitage launches its Hermitage North programs.
“We are so grateful for Gulf Coast’s continued partnership and unwavering support for the Hermitage mission. These resources will allow us to capitalize on our extraordinary talent base of artists and our invaluable partnerships to establish more visible, meaningful, and consistent Hermitage programming throughout the region,” says Andy Sandberg, the Hermitage’s Artistic Director and CEO. The Hermitage is uniquely positioned to do this by virtue of the caliber of Hermitage artists, which include nine Pulitzer Prize winners, seven MacArthur Genius Grant recipients, and multiple Oscar, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy winners and nominees.
This is being supported with an additional $45,000 given by Flora Major and the Kutya Major Foundation.
“I have known Andy Sandberg for many years, and his vision for the Hermitage is incredibly exciting,” says Flora Major. “The Hermitage is poised to become a true leader in the Sarasota arts community, and I am thrilled to see the wave of support rallying behind this special, one-of-a-kind organization. I am honored to play a role in seeing the Hermitage reach new heights in Sarasota and beyond.”
“Thanks to this monumental grant from Gulf Coast and Flora Major’s extraordinary gift of support, we can move forward with planning our Hermitage North programs, formalizing institutional partnerships with our invaluable arts and education partners in the region, and furthering the engagement of our artists and alumni with our community,” adds Sandberg. “We are deeply grateful to Gulf Coast Community Foundation and to Flora Major for their generous support of these programs and their continued commitment to our mission.”
The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of visual art, theater, music, literature, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows are asked to participate in community programs, affording audiences in our region the unique opportunity to engage with some of the world’s leading artists and to get a “sneak peek” into extraordinary projects and artistic minds before their works go on to major galleries, concert halls, theaters, and museums around the world. These free programs include performances, lectures, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.
The Hermitage is in the final days of its spring fundraising campaign. Through June 30th, every gift made to the Hermitage Artist Retreat will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, thanks to a generous $100,000 contribution from the Cook family on Manasota Key and an additional $50,000 in support from additional friends of the Hermitage, for a total match challenge of $150,000.
For more information about the Hermitage, visit www.HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
About Gulf Coast Community Foundation
For 25 years, together with its donors, Gulf Coast Community Foundation has transformed our region through bold and proactive philanthropy. Gulf Coast is a public charity that was created in 1995 through the sale of the Venice Hospital. Since then, it has become the philanthropic home of nearly 1,000 families, individuals, organizations, and businesses that have established charitable funds there, and has invested over $385 million in grants and initiatives in the areas of health and human services, civic and economic development, education, arts and culture, and the environment. Learn more at GulfCoastCF.org.
About the Hermitage Artist Retreat:
The Hermitage is a nonprofit artist retreat located in Manasota Key, Florida, inviting accomplished artists across multiple disciplines for residencies on its beachfront campus, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Hermitage artists are invited to interact with the local community, serving thousands of Gulf Coast residents and visitors each year with unique and inspiring programs. Hermitage fellows have included nine Pulitzer Prize winners, along with multiple Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and MacArthur Fellowship award winners. Works created at this beachside retreat by a diverse group of Hermitage alumni have gone on to renowned theatres, concert halls, and galleries throughout the world. Each year, the organization awards the $30,000 Hermitage Greenfield Prize for a new work of art, and the Aspen Music Festival awards the annual Hermitage Prize in Composition. For more information about The Hermitage Artist Retreat, visit www.HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
The Hermitage is supported by: Hermitage programs are supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts; by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax Revenues; and by the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council of Arts and Culture and the State of Florida (Section 286.25 Florida Statutes).