This $50,000 grant is to support the Hermitage’s renowned artist residency program and to serve as a community sponsor of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner and Celebration in April 2022.
(November 10, 2021) The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has awarded the Hermitage Artist Retreat a $50,000 Strategic Partnership Grant to support the Hermitage’s nationally renowned artist residency program and, for the fifth consecutive season, to serve as “Grand Sponsor” of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner and Celebration in April of 2022.
The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is a groundbreaking partnership between the Hermitage Artist Retreat and the Greenfield Foundation. This prestigious national prize seeks to bring into the world works of art that will have a significant impact on the broad as well as the artistic landscape. 2022 will mark the fourteenth year of this annual jury-selected award, with the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner scheduled for Sunday, April 10, at Michael’s On East in Sarasota.
The Hermitage Greenfield Prize includes a six-week Hermitage residency and a $30,000 commission to create an original work. The distinguished honor rotates annually among music, theater, and visual art. The 2021 Hermitage Greenfield Prize was awarded to playwright Aleshea Harris, with her commission set to premiere in 2023. The 2022 prize will be awarded to an artist in the discipline of music.
In addition, the Community Foundation’s sponsorship will help to support the Hermitage’s artist residency program. Each year, the Hermitage invites accomplished and diverse artists across multiple disciplines for residencies on its beachfront campus. Hermitage Fellows include fourteen Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur ‘Genius’ and Guggenheim Fellows, Poets Laureate, and dozens of Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar winners and nominees. Works created and developed at the Hermitage have been presented at renowned theaters, concert halls, and galleries throughout the world. Artists are nominated for residencies by the Hermitage’s National Curatorial Council, which is comprised of artistic leaders from some of the most highly regarded cultural institutions across the globe.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County for their continued support and generosity,” said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “This is now the Community Foundation’s fifth consecutive year as ‘Grand Sponsor’ of the Prize Dinner and the surrounding events celebrating this recognition. Their continued partnership makes a tremendous difference as the Hermitage Greenfield Prize seeks to bring together Sarasota residents for a unique opportunity to see the creation of a visionary new work – born right here on Manasota Key – before it goes on to future life throughout the world. We are also honored that, with this grant, the Community Foundation continues to champion our core artist residency program, recognizing the Hermitage’s commitment to supporting artists in their creative process, and believing in the power of the arts to make a difference.”
The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where diverse artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free community programs, offering audiences in the region a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world’s leading artists and to get an authentic “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 and innovative programs include performances, lectures, readings, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.
The Hermitage recently announced that all of the Hermitage’s live programming through the end of 2021 will continue entirely outdoors, all with socially distanced seating.
For more information about Hermitage artists, programs, and events, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
About the Community Foundation of Sarasota County:
The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make a charitable impact on the community. With assets of $421 million in more than 1,500 charitable funds, the Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling $48.9 million dollars last year in the areas of education, the arts, health and human services, civic engagement, animal welfare and the environment. Since its founding, the Community Foundation has been able to grant more than $323 million to area nonprofit organizations to our community thanks to the generosity of charitable individuals, families, and businesses. For more information, visit CFSarasota.org.
About the Hermitage Artist Retreat:
The Hermitage is a non-profit 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, reaching thousands of Gulf Coast residents and visitors each year with unique and inspiring programs. Hermitage Fellows have included 14 Pulitzer Prize winners, Poets Laureate, MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellows, and multiple Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar winners and nominees. Works created at this beachside retreat by a diverse group of Hermitage alumni have gone on to renowned theaters, concert halls, and galleries throughout the world. Each year, the Hermitage awards the $30,000 Hermitage Greenfield Prize for a new work of art, the newly announced $35,000 Hermitage Major Theater Award for an original theater commission, and the Aspen Music Festival’s Hermitage Prize in Composition. For more information, visit HermitagArtistRetreat.org.