The Hermitage’s multidisciplinary programs offer one-of-a-kind looks behind the curtain of the creative process. These performances and conversations throughout May and June are presented in partnership with regional arts and cultural organizations including Urbanite Theatre, Selby Gardens at Historic Spanish Point, the Van Wezel Hall, Florida Humanities, and more. Newly announced artists include Tony nominee Bess Wohl, violinist Mazz Swift, cellist Karen Patterson, Pulitzer Prize finalist Zora Howard, and more.
April 4, 2023 — The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) today announced new programs throughout the months of May and June. Continuing its 20th Anniversary Season, these events will be presented all across Sarasota County, from the Hermitage’s beautiful beachfront campus on Manasota Key to the Van Wezel Terrace overlooking Sarasota Bay, as well as virtual offerings expanding access beyond geographic limitations. Hermitage programs introduce world-renowned artists to Florida’s Gulf Coast community and audiences across the country for candid and engaging conversations, musical performances, play readings, work-in-process showings, and educational opportunities for students and adults.
Newly announced programs in May include partnerships with Urbanite Theatre, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens at Historic Spanish Point, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, and a new virtual program with support from Florida Humanities. Featured artists and performers include returning Hermitage Fellow and Tony Nominee Bess Wohl (Grand Horizons, Small Mouth Sounds) who provides the key-note conversation as part of Urbanite Theatre’s Modern Works Festival and whose play Camp Siegfried recently premiered Off-Broadway following development at the Hermitage; Julliard-trained violinist and 2022 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Finalist Mazz Swift, who has performed at such iconic venues as Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, and New York’s Lincoln Center; returning Hermitage alumna and internationally celebrated cellist Karen Patterson; as well as Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard (Hang Time, Stew, The Master’s Tools). June programs will spotlight the work of writer and acclaimed translator Jennifer Croft (William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, Man Booker International Prize) and author Tony Barnstone offering his literary insight through Tarot cards, plus as a showcase of original songs by Hermitage composers presented by some of Sarasota’s most celebrated performers.
On Friday, May 5th at 8pm, the Hermitage partners with Urbanite Theatre to present a conversation with Bess Wohl as part of Urbanite Theatre’s popular Modern Works Festival. Sarasota audiences will remember Wohl from the recent production of Grand Horizons at Asolo Rep as well as the in-process showing of selections from Camp Siegfried on the Hermitage Beach prior to its recent run in New York at Second Stage Theatre. As one of the most exciting voices writing for the stage today, this Tony Award-nominated playwright and returning Hermitage alumna will discuss her works and career as part of the festival’s focus on women in theater.
The following week, Hermitage programs continue on Friday, May 12th at 6:30pm on the Hermitage Beach with “Black Women in our Collective Culture,” an interdisciplinary program featuring the works of Hermitage Fellows Delita Martin and Imani Perry. These two acclaimed Hermitage Fellows share a common subject: redefining the role and representation of Black people and particularly Black women in our collective culture. A multimedium visual artist, Martin has been exhibited both nationally and internationally with work combining collage, painting, drawing, and sewing techniques. Perry is the author of seven books and Pen Bograd-Weld Award for Biography, the Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Award, and the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction.
On Friday, May 19th at 6:30pm, the Hermitage is pleased to welcome the return of cellist Karen Patterson for the next installment of the popular “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” series. One of the Hermitage’s earliest alumna musicians, Patterson will play an informal cello concert of favorites and original works at Selby Gardens: Historic Spanish Point. Since her time at the Hermitage, Patterson has performed all over the world including the Lagos Jazz Series Festival in Nigeria, the Jazz and Gospel Fest in Rio De Janiero, and a world premiere by Egyptian-American Composer Halim El-Dabh for the Dayton Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. “Cello on Point,” the latest installment of the “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby” series, promises to be a magical evening of beautiful music at Historic Spanish Point.
With “Moved to Music: Violin on the Bay,” the Hermitage partners with the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall to bring two genre-bending violinists to the Outdoor Terrace of this iconic Sarasota venue (recently home to the Hermitage’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Concert). Presented on Friday, May 26th at 6:30pm, “Moved to Music” combines the Julliard-trained violin talents of Mazz Swift, described by Jazz Right Now as “soaring and lyrical,” with the holistic approach of New Orleans-based violinist, teacher, and yoga instructor Rebecca Crenshaw. Both artists center the power of music to forge community and express big ideas, and both will share selections of their work and process. In addition to being a returning Hermitage alumna, Swift was also recognized as a finalist for the 2022 Hermitage Greenfield Prize.
The Hermitage’s “Artists and Thinkers” series continues on Wednesday, May 31st at 6:30pm ET with “Stewing with Zora Howard,” a conversation with Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard. Thanks in part to the support provided by Florida Humanities, this virtual artist conversation dives deep into the cultural, historical, and economic realities of her play Stew, which has been celebrated as a contemporary triumph. Facilitated by Hermitage Programs Director James Monaghan, this program is presented online and features selections of the work in addition to the artist’s insights and opportunities for audience members to engage directly via the ‘Q&A’ feature.
The Hermitage’s year-round outdoor programming continues in June with “The Radiant Tarot: Pathway to Creativity” on Friday, June 16th at 6:30pm on the Hermitage Beach with Hermitage Fellow and writer Tony Barnstone. Inspired by the words of Rilke and William Blake amongst many other artists and practitioners, the artwork and guidebook of this Tarot deck are aimed at awakening creativity and personal growth. In this program, Barnstone, author of the guidebook, will illuminate some of the impulses behind its creation, its potential interpretations, and the creative projects it has already inspired. Don’t miss this intriguing take on the age-old quest of every artist: to capture creative inspiration and make the next great work.
The following week, the Hermitage presents “The Many Languages of Jennifer Croft” at 6:30pm on Tuesday, June 20th on the Hermitage Beach. Recipient of the 2020 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for her illustrated memoir Homesick and the 2018 Man-Booker International Prize for her translation of from Polish of Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights, Jennifer Croft is an accomplished writer as well as translator. She also happens to be married to gifted writer and translator Boris Dralyuk who joins her as part of the Hermitage’s Family Residency program. Croft and Dralyuk share selections from their original and translated works as well as offering insight on the mercurial art of translation. In recognition of this great evening of words, the Hermitage is partnering with a number of literary organizations to support the event including Sarasota County Libraries and the Johann Fust Library Foundation on Boca Grande.
As the summer officially begins, the Hermitage travels to Lakewood Ranch on Friday, June 23rd at 7pm to present “Songs from the Sand: A Hermitage Cabaret.” This evening of song at Lakewood Ranch’s “Waterside Pavilion” stage will feature original songs and words created by artists who have been in residence on its Manasota Key campus presented by Sarasota’s finest performers. From Adam Gwon to Jeanine Tesori, Michael R. Jackson to Kit Yan, and Rona Siddiqui to Zoe Sarnak, the Hermitage has provided space and time to some of the most exciting musical theater writers working in the industry today. Hear some of these breathtaking and inspiring works, as well as little known stories surrounding some of their creation, performed by some of Sarasota’s greatest talents. (Details of the composers and performers to be announced at a later date.)
These newly announced artists and programs in May and June join previously announced programs with an incredible lineup of Hermitage Fellows in April celebrating the 15th year of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize. Four recent HGP winners – Aleshea Harris (theater, 2021), Angélica Negrón (music, 2022), Rennie Harris (dance, 2023), and Sandy Rodriguez (visual art, 2023) will each take part in the celebration of events April 14-16, 2023, culminating with the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on Sunday, April 16.
(Full program details for all events are provided below.)
Nearly all Hermitage programs are free and open to the public (with a $5/person registration fee), offering Gulf Coast audiences a rare chance to engage and interact with some of the world’s leading talent. Due to capacity limitations and social distancing, registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
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, dance, 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.
See below for complete program details and artist bios.
For more information about the Hermitage and upcoming programs, or to support the Hermitage’s hurricane repair efforts, visit HermitagArtistRetreat.org.
FULL PROGRAM DETAILS
Newly Announced Program Descriptions for May and June:
- “Bess Wohl conversation at Urbanite Theatre’s Modern Works Festival” with Hermitage Fellow Bess Wohl, Friday, May 5, 8:00pm: Sarasota audiences will remember Wohl from the recent production of Grand Horizons at Asolo Rep as well as the in-process showing of selections from Camp Siegfried on the Hermitage Beach prior to its recent run in New York at Second Stage Theatre. As one of the most exciting voices writing for the stage today, this Tony Award-nominated playwright and returning Hermitage alumna will discuss her works and career as part of the festival’s focus on women in theater. Presented in partnership with Urbanite Theatre. Visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org for tickets. Urbanite Theatre, 1487 2nd St, Sarasota, FL 34236
- “Black Women in our Collective Culture” with Hermitage Fellows Delita Martin and Imani Perry, Friday, May 12, 6:30pm: Two acclaimed Hermitage Fellows – visual artist Delita Martin and author Imani Perry – share a common subject: redefining the role and representation that Black people and Black women occupy in our collective culture. Combining various creative practices such as collaging, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sewing techniques, Delita Martin has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Author of seven books including South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon Line to Understand the Soul of a Nation, Imani Perry is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. Join these two incredible artists and educators on the Hermitage Beach to hear and see insights into their important work. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood, FL 34223
- Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens: “Cello on Point” with Hermitage Alumna Karen Patterson, Friday, May 19, 6:30pm: Hermitage Alumna and cellist Karen Patterson first visited the Hermitage as a Fellow in 2005, making her among the first to experience the creative energy and inspiration of the Manasota Key campus. Since then, her work has been seen across the country and around the world, from the Lagos Jazz Series Festival in Nigeria to a world premiere from celebrated Egyptian-American composer Halim El-Dabh with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. From classical to jazz to spirituals, her work celebrates cultural diversity, the dynamic beauty of artistic expression, and the strength of community. Join Patterson as she plays favorites as well as original work as the Hermitage returns to Historic Spanish Point for the latest installment of the popular “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” series. Presented in Partnership with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens with media sponsorship from Scene Magazine. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Selby Gardens: Historic Spanish Point, 401 North Tamiami Trail, Osprey, FL 34229
- “Moved to Music: Violin on the Bay” with Hermitage Fellows Rebecca Crenshaw and Mazz Swift, Friday, May 26, 6:30pm: The ability of music to elevate our moods, build community, and express big ideas is central to the work of acclaimed musicians and Hermitage Fellows Rebecca Crenshaw and Mazz Swift. Juilliard-trained violinist Mazz Swift is a returning Hermitage alum and a 2022 finalist for the Hermitage Greenfield Prize. Hailed as “soaring and lyrical” by Jazz Right Now, Swift’s style encompasses a wide range of established genres as well as unique improvisational techniques Mazz has created. Rebecca Crenshaw balances the skillsets of modern rock-folk performance with a pedagogical and yoga practice to create a holistic experience rooted in creativity. Listen to selections of original work on the violin and hear what is inspiring these two remarkable performers. Presented in Partnership with Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Van Wezel Terrace, 777 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
- VIRTUAL PROGRAM – Hermitage Artists and Thinkers Series “Stewing with Zora Howard” with Hermitage Fellow and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard, Wednesday, May 31, 6:30pm: In Pulitzer Prize finalist and Hermitage Fellow Zora Howard’s STEW, it’s too hot and too early for all the drama. As the generations of Tucker women convene in the kitchen to prepare a meal for a large gathering later that day, it begins to emerge that “the secrets we keep from our mothers eventually become the secrets we keep from ourselves.” Presented on Zoom with the support of Florida Humanities, Hermitage Programs Director James Monaghan is joined by Howard to explore the cultural and historical elements of the play. How does food and its preparation contain generational memory? How have historical and economic trends shaped the societal role of the Tucker family? Join the conversation from the comfort of your home and learn what makes this drama so delicious. Presented with support from Florida Humanities. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/household registration fee). Presented on Zoom
- “The Radiant Tarot: Pathway to Creativity” with Hermitage Fellow Tony Barnstone, Friday, June 16, 6:30pm: The Hermitage is about creating new works. When in conversation with Hermitage Fellow and creator Tony Barnstone’s The Radiant Tarot: Pathway to Creativity an entirely new – yet ancient – approach is revealed. Inspired by the words of Rilke and William Blake amongst many other artists and practitioners, the artwork and guidebook of this Tarot deck are aimed at awakening creativity and personal growth. In this program, Barnstone, author of the guidebook, will illuminate some of the impulses behind its creation, its potential interpretations, and the creative projects it has already inspired. Hear from this multidisciplinary author of more than 20 books and begin to uncover the connections in the cards. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood, FL 34223
- “The Many Languages of Jennifer Croft” with Hermitage Fellow Jennifer Croft, Tuesday, June 20, 6:30pm: There is very little lost in translation with Hermitage Fellow Jennifer Croft’s writing and much is added by her original works that span languages as well as genres. Recipient of the 2020 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and the 2018 Man Booker International Prize, Croft also happens to be married to the incredible translator and writer Boris Dralyuk who joins her for this program and residency as part of the Hermitage’s Family Residency program. Dralyuk’s work has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, London Review of Books, The Guardian, and other journals in addition to his own works such as Western Crime Fiction Goes East: The Russian Pinkerton Craze 1907-1934. Hear selections of Croft and Dralyuk’s work and discuss the mercurial art of translation with these celebrated practitioners. Presented in Partnership with Sarasota county Libraries and the Johann Fust Library Foundation. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood, FL 34223
- “Songs from the Sand: A Hermitage Cabaret” Featuring the work of Hermitage Fellows performed by some of Sarasota’s Greatest Talents, Friday, June 23, 7:00pm: From Adam Gwon to Jeanine Tesori, Michael R. Jackson to Kit Yan, Rona Siddiqui to Zoe Sarnak, the Hermitage has provided space and time to some of the most exciting musical theater writers working in the industry today. Hear selections from creators such as these performed by some of Sarasota’s finest performers at one of the area’s most beautiful environments, Waterside at Lakewood Ranch. In addition to the works themselves, hear little known stories about the creation of some of New York Theater’s recent success stories all as the sun sets over the water. Presented in Partnership with Waterside at Lakewood Ranch. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Waterside Pavilion at Lakewood Ranch, 1561 Lakefront Drive, Sarasota, FL 34240
The Hermitage Greenfield Prize Weekend – Schedule of Events (Previously Announced):
- “Aleshea Harris Presents” with Playwright & 2021 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner Aleshea Harris, Friday, April 14, 5:30pm: Winner of the 2021 Hermitage Greenfield Prize, genre-defying playwright and theater maker Aleshea Harris has also been honored with the OBIE, Relentless, and Helen Merrill Awards, as well as a special commendation from the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Her critically acclaimed works include Is God Is, What to Send Up When It Goes Down, On Sugarland, and Brother, Brother. Described by The New York Times as “a rarefied theatrical intelligence,” Harris’ work seeks to honor the tragedies of the past and present while allowing for a potential hope to come. Join the Hermitage on Friday, April 14th at 5:30pm to hear a presentation of this incredible theater-maker’s Hermitage Greenfield Prize commission. Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and Asolo/FSU Conservatory. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). The Cook Theater (FSU Asolo Center for Performing Arts), 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, Florida 34243.
- “Sandy Rodriguez: Putting Sarasota on the Map,” with 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner in Visual Art Sandy Rodriguez Saturday, April 15, 2pm: 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner in Visual Art Sandy Rodriguez plans to use her commission to create a panoramic exhibition, the centerpiece of which will be a new large-scale map that depicts the southeastern topography and coastline of the U.S. marked by stories of resistance from the colonial period to the present. In this engaging visual conversation, Rodriguez will show examples of her work that resonate thematically and discuss her process, which includes using hand-processed, locally sourced materials for pigments. Joined by Hermitage Alum and Greenfield Prize juror for this year Anne Patterson, as well as fellow juror and Creative Capital President and Executive Director Christine Kuan, celebrate the 15th year of the prize with a sneak peek into this incredible artist’s vision of the world and concept for this storied commission. Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/household registration fee). Hermitage Campus, Palm House (Indoors) 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood, Florida 34223.
- “Rennie Harris: Street Dance Pioneer” with 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner in Dance and Choreography Lorenzo ‘Rennie’ Harris, Saturday, April 15, 6pm: 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner in Dance & Choreography Rennie Harris believes that hip-hop is the most important original expression of a new generation. He has dedicated his life and his company, Rennie Harris Puremovement, to preserving and celebrating hip-hop culture through workshops, demonstrations, and public performances. Joined in conversation by dance historian Charmaine Warren and Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Executive Producer Emeritus and longtime friend of the Hermitage Joseph V. Melillo, Harris shares insights into his remarkable career bringing street dance to stages all around the world, and how being the first ever recipient of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize in dance will shape his new work “Losing my Religion.” Be among the first to hear about how this piece shifts away from what was to what is and what can be. Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). The Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood, Florida 34223.
- GALA DINNER & BENEFIT: 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner: A Celebration of Art and Dance, Sunday, April 16, 6pm: The 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner recognizes this year’s recipients, visual artist Sandy Rodriguez and dancer-choreographer Lorenzo ‘Rennie’ Harris. This 15th year of the Prize in the 20th Anniversary Season of the Hermitage will feature live performances, including a selection from 2022 HGP recipient Angélica Negrón, whose commission is anticipated for a first public performance in April of next year. Additional guest artists will be announced at a later date. Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. The Ringling Museum’s Ca’ d’Zan (5401 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota, FL 34243). For tables and sponsorships ($1,250 to $10,000), visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org, or call (941) 475-2098, Ext. 2.
Also Previously Announced:
- “The Pop-Folk World of Zoe Sarnak,” Wednesday, April 26 @ 7pm at Nathan Benderson Park: In the second exciting iteration of the recently launched Ruby E. Crosby Alumni Music Initiative, Zoe Sarnak returns to Sarasota and brings a bit of her ‘downtown vibe’ with her. Socially and environmentally aware, Sarnak’s music is driven by evocative voices who see life from the outside and strive to bring a little light through soaring chords and irresistible beats. A recipient of the Jonathan Larson Award, and a finalist for the Ebb Award and Kleban Prize, she is the co-author of the award-winning production of A Crossing at Barrington Stage, as well as the book and lyrics writer for the recently opened world premiere of The Lonely Few at the Geffen Playhouse starring Tony Award Winner Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill). Presented in partnership with the Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy. Zoe Sarnak’s concert and Hermitage residency are made possible through the Ruby E. Crosby Alumni Music Series at the Hermitage. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee).Estimated running time: 60-70 minutes. Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle, Sarasota, FL 34235.
The Hermitage Artist Retreat
Sarasota County, Florida
Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO
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 15 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 HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
The Hermitage is supported by:
Hermitage programs are supported, in part, by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax Revenues; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts; as well as the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.
ALL ANNOUNCED HERMITAGE PROGRAMS:
Friday, Apr 14, 5:30pm, “Aleshea Harris Presents” featuring the first public presentation of acclaimed playwright and 2021 Hermitage Major Theater Award Winner Aleshea Harris’ commission
Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and Asolo Rep/FSU Conservatory
Saturday, Apr 15, 2pm, “Sandy Rodriguez: Putting Sarasota on the Map,” with 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner in Visual Art Sandy Rodriguez, joined by Anne Patterson and Christine Kuan
Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation and Community Foundation of Sarasota County
Saturday, Apr 15, 6pm, “Rennie Harris: Street Dance Pioneer,” with 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner in Dance and Choreography Lorenzo ‘Rennie’ Harris, joined by Joseph V. Melillo and Charmaine Warren
Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation and Community Foundation of Sarasota County
Wednesday, April 26, 7pm, “The Pop-Folk World of Zoe Sarnak,” with Crosby Alumni Music Initiative Artist Zoe Sarnak, at Nathan Benderson Park
Presented in partnership with the Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy
Friday, May 5, 8:00pm, “Bess Wohl Conversation at Urbanite Theatre’s Modern Works Festival,” with Hermitage Fellow Bess Wohl, at Urbanite Theatre
Presented in partnership with Urbanite Theatre
Friday, May 12, 6:30pm, “Black Women in our Collective Culture,” with Hermitage Fellows Delita Martin and Imani Perry, on the Hermitage Beach
Friday, May 19, 6:30pm, Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens: “Cello on Point,” with Hermitage Alumna Karen Patterson, at Historic Spanish Point
Presented in partnership with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and Scene Magazine
Friday, May 26, 6:30pm, “Moved to Music: Violins on the Bay,” with Hermitage Fellows Rebecca Crenshaw and Mazz Swift, at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Terrace
Presented in partnership with the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
Wednesday, May 31, 6:30pm, “Stewing with Zora Howard,” with Hermitage Fellow and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard, Presented on Zoom
Presented with support from Florida Humanities
Friday, June 16, 6:30pm, “The Radiant Tarot:Pathway to Creativity,” with Hermitage Fellow Tony Barnstone, On the Hermitage Beach
Tuesday, June 20, 6:30pm, “The Many Langauges of Jennifer Croft,” with Hermitage Fellow Jennifer Croft, on the Hermitage Beach
Presented in partnership with Sarasota County Libraries and the Johann Fust Library Foundation
Friday, June 23, 7pm, “Songs from the Sand: A Hermitage Cabaret,” featuring the work of Hermitage Fellows and leading musical theater composers, performed by Sarasota artists, at Waterside Pavilion at Lakewood Ranch
Presented in partnership Lakewood Ranch Communities
COMPLETE ARTIST BIOS
(in chronological order of upcoming programs)
Aleshea Harris (2021 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner)
Aleshea Harris is the 2021 recipient of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize, awarded in the discipline of theater. Her play Is God Is (directed by Taibi Magar at Soho Rep) won the 2016 Relentless Award, an OBIE Award for playwriting in 2017, and the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award in 2019. It was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and made The Kilroys’ List of “the most recommended un and underproduced plays by trans and female authors of color” for 2017. What to Send Up When It Goes Down (directed by Whitney White, produced by The Movement Theatre Company), a play-pageant-ritual response to anti-Blackness, had its critically acclaimed New York City premiere in 2018, and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, with additional productions in 2021 at BAM and Playwrights Horizons. Her play On Sugarland recently premiered at New York Theater Workshop (Lortel nomination for Best Play). Harris was awarded the Windham-Campbell Literary Prize and the Steinberg Playwriting Award in 2020. She has performed her own work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Orlando Fringe Festival; REDCAT, as part of La Fête du Livre at La Comèdie de Saint-Étienne; and Skirball Center in Los Angeles. In addition to being a Hermitage Fellow, she is a two-time MacDowell Fellow and has enjoyed residencies at Hedgebrook and Djerassi.
Angélica Negrón (2022 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner)
Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón is the winner of the 2022 Hermitage Greenfield Prize. She writes music for accordions, robotic instruments, toys, and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, orchestras, choir, and film. Her music has been described as “wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative” (WQXR/Q2), while The New York Times noted her “capacity to surprise.” Negrón has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Kronos Quartet, loadbang, Prototype Festival, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sō Percussion, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, and the New York Botanical Garden, among others. Negrón received an early education in piano and violin at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico where she later studied composition under the guidance of composer Alfonso Fuentes. She holds a master’s degree in music composition from New York University where she studied with Pedro da Silva and pursued doctoral studies at The Graduate Center (CUNY), where she studied composition with Tania León. Also active as an educator, Negrón is currently a teaching artist for New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program. She has collaborated with artists like Sō Percussion, Lido Pimienta, Mathew Placek, Sasha Velour, Cecilia Aldarondo, Mariela Pabón, Adrienne Westwood, Tiffany Mills and has written music for films, theater and modern dance. She was recently an Artist-in-Residence at WNYC’s The Greene Space working on El Living Room, a 4-part offbeat variety show and playful multimedia exploration of sound and story, of personal history and belonging. Recent and upcoming premieres include works for the Seattle Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra and NY Philharmonic Project 19 initiative and multiple performances at Big Ears Festival 2022. | AngelicaNegron.com
Lorenzo ‘Rennie’ Harris (2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner)
Lorenzo ‘Rennie’ Harris, winner of the 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize in Dance and Choreography, was born and raised in an African American community in North Philadelphia. In 1992, Harris founded Rennie Harris Puremovement, a street dance theater company dedicated to preserving and disseminating hip-hop culture through workshops, classes, hip-hop history lecture demonstrations, long-term residencies, mentoring programs, and public performances. Harris founded his company based on the belief that hip-hop is the most important original expression of a new generation. With its roots in the inner-city African American and Latino communities, hip-hop can be characterized as a contemporary indigenous form, one that expresses universal themes that extend beyond racial, religious, and economic boundaries, and one that can help bridge these divisions. Harris’ work encompasses the diverse and rich African American traditions of the past, while simultaneously presenting the voice of a new generation through its ever-evolving interpretations of dance. Harris is committed to providing audiences with a sincere view of the essence and spirit of hip-hop. Harris was voted one of the most influential people in the last one hundred years of Philadelphia history. Among his awards are honorary doctorates from Bates College and Columbia College. The London Times wrote of Mr. Harris that he is “the Basquiat of the U.S. contemporary dance scene.”
Sandy Rodriguez (2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize)
Sandy Rodriguez (b. 1975, National City, CA) is the recipient of the 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize in Visual Art. She is a Los Angeles-based artist and researcher, and first-generation Chicana raised on the US-Mexico border. Her Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón is made up of a collection of maps and paintings about the intersections of history, social memory, contemporary politics, and cultural production. Rodriguez earned her BFA from California Institute of Arts. She has exhibited her works at the Denver Art Museum, The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Garden, The Amon Carter Museum of American Art and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Busan, South Korea. Her work is in the permanent collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX, The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Garden. San Marino, CA and others. She was awarded the Caltech-Huntington Art+Research Residency, Creative Capital Award and Migrations initiative from Mellon Foundation Just Futures Initiative and Global Cornell. Rodriguez and her work have been featured in BBC News: In the Studio, Hyperallergic, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Spectrum News/NY1, and on several radio programs and podcasts.
Bess Wohl
Hermitage Fellow Bess Wohl’s plays include Camp Siegfried, Grand Horizons (Tony Nominations for Best Play; Outer Critics Circle Honor, Drama League Award nom.), Make Believe (NYTimes Critic’s Pick, Best of 2019, Outer Critics Circle Honor), Continuity, Small Mouth Sounds (John Gassner Outer Critics Circle Award, top ten lists in The New York Times, The New York Post, The Guardian and others), American Hero, Barcelona, Touched, In, Cats Talk Back, and the musical Pretty Filthy, with composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and The Civilians (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Musical). Her plays have been produced or developed at theaters in New York and around the country, including Second Stage, Manhattan Theater Club, Ars Nova, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodman Theater, Geffen Playhouse, People’s Light, The Contemporary American Theater Festival, Vineyard Arts Project, Pioneer Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Northlight Theater, TheaterWorks New Works Festival, Ojai Playwright’s Conference, Cape Cod Theatre Project, PlayPenn, and the New York International Fringe Festival (Award for Best Overall Production). In 2015, Bess won the Sam Norkin special Drama Desk Award for “establishing herself as an important voice in New York theater, and having a breakthrough year.” Other awards and honors include the Athena Award for her screenplay, Virginia, a MacDowell Fellowship, and inclusion on Hollywood’s “Black List” of Best Screenplays. She is an associate artist with The Civilians, an alumna of Ars Nova’s Play Group, and the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Hartford Stage, and Lincoln Center. She also writes screenplays and has developed multiple original television projects for HBO, ABC, USA, FOX, Disney, Paramount, and others. She is a graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Drama.
Delita Martin
Hermitage Fellow Delita Martin is an artist currently based in Huffman, Texas. She received a BFA in drawing from Texas Southern University and a MFA in printmaking from Purdue University. Primarily working from oral traditions, along with vintage and family photographs as a source of inspiration, Martin’s work explores the power of the narrative impulse. Her finished works combine collaging, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sewing techniques, placing her figures amid patterns to visually represent what it looks like when we become the spiritual other. Martin’s layering of technique and material, as well as her use of pattern and color, signifies a liminal space – the space between the waking life and the spirit life. By fusing this visual language with oral storytelling in this different space she offers other identities and other narratives for women of color. Martin’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Most recently, Martin’s work was shown at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC and welcomed into the Library of Congress. She served as 2021 Keynote Speaker for the Mid-America Print Council. Martin’s current work deals with reconstructing the identity of Black women by piecing together the signs, symbols, and language found in what could be called everyday life from slavery through modern times. Martin’s goal is to create images as a visual language to tell the story of women that have often been marginalized, offering a different perspective of the lives of Black women.
Imani Perry
Hermitage Fellow Imani Perry is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of AfricanAmerican Studies at Princeton University. She is the author of six books, including Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry, which received the Pen Bograd-Weld Award for Biography, the Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Award, and the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction. It was named a 2018 notable book by The New York Times. Her book, May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem, was the winner of the 2019 American Studies Association John Hope Franklin Book Award, the Hurston Wright Award for Nonfiction, and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award in Nonfiction. Her book, Breathe: A Letter to My Sons was a finalist for the 2020 Chautauqua Prize and a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. In 2021, Perry was named a Guggenheim Fellow. In 2019, she was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Perry has written for the New York Times, The Atlantic, Harpers, Oprah Magazine, New York Magazine, and The Paris Review. Her most recent book, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon Line to Understand the Soul of a Nation, was released in 2022.
Karen Patterson
American Cellist and Hermitage Fellow Karen Patterson‘s inspirations and philosophies are deeply rooted in a family tradition of perseverance and pride. Her father was one of few African-American U.S. Army Colonels in his time; her grandmother graduated from college in the 1920s, a time when few women went on to higher education in the South; and her mother, an educator and community activist, taught her that “everybody counts.” Patterson began her cello studies in an experimental school at the age of eight. She earned her undergraduate degree from Ohio University and her graduate degree from Antioch University, under the Antioch International Program, in both cases combining the study of performance with traditional education. Ms. Patterson studied German at the Goethe Institute in Kochel Am See and specialized in Cello Performance with Professor Gerhard Hamann at the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Trossingen, Germany. She has performed in master classes of renowned artists such as Mistislav Rostropovich and Janos Starker and has studied jazz improvisation and performed with Keter Betts, bassist for Ella Fitzgerald. Karen Patterson’s performances have entertained and inspired audiences throughout the world. Her repertoire is varied and unique. She has performed at the Lagos Jazz Series Festival in Lagos, Nigeria, the AACW Blues, Jazz & gospel Fest and the Global forum in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. She has performed with the Dayton Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, bringing jazz, a classical repertoire, and a commissioned 21st century classical cello concerto, “The Invisible Bridge,” by the esteemed Egyptian composer Dr. Halim El-Dabh, conducted by Neal Gittleman. Karen Patterson’s music celebrates cultural diversity, the dynamic beauty of artistic expression, and the strength of community.
Rebecca Crenshaw
A New Orleans-based teaching artist and violinist/violist, Hermitage Fellow Rebecca Crenshaw combines knowledge, connection, expression, and balance in all of her work, whether teaching private violin or viola lessons, performing on a concert stage, developing arts-integrated curricula, or leading a yoga class. Her passions and talent for building community, promoting playful expression, and healing the mind and body continue to afford her professional opportunities that benefit the local and global music communities while fostering self-awareness, enrichment, and creativity in people of all ages. In addition to active collaborations with New Orleans artists and musicians, Crenshaw has performed and recorded with artists such as Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Samantha Fish, Judith Owen, Ronnie Spector, and more. She has 15 years of teaching experience and, in 2021, earned an Executive Graduate Degree from the Global Leaders Program’s 360° Executive Education Program for Arts Innovators. She is registered with the Yoga Alliance as an RYT® 500 instructor and has been teaching yoga since 2015.
Mazz Swift
Critically acclaimed as one of America’s most talented and versatile performers today, Violin/Vox/Freestyle Composition artist and Hermitage Fellow Mazz Swift has engaged audiences all over the world with the signature weaving of song, melody and improvisation that they call MazzMuse. As a singer, composer, and Juilliard-trained violinist who plays electronic and acoustic instruments, Mazz has performed and recorded with a diverse accumulation of artists including The Silkroad Ensemble, William Parker, Butch Morris, Jason Lindner, James “Blood” Ulmer, Vernon Reid, Valerie June, Whitney Houston, DJ Logic, Kanye West, D’Angelo. Mx. Swift is a 2021 United States Artist and 2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, currently working on a series of compositions that involve conducted improvisation, and that are centered around protest, spirituals, and the Ghanaian concept of ‘Sankofa’: looking back to learn how to move forward.
Zora Howard
Hermitage Fellow Zora Howard is a Harlem-bred writer and performer. Plays include Stew (2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Drama League nominee for Outstanding Play; Page 73 Productions), The Master’s Tools (Williamstown Theatre Festival), AtGN (Oberlin College), Bust (2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist), and Hang Time (2022 Creative Capital Award Finalist), which just received its world premiere at The Flea under Howard’s direction. In addition to the Hermitage, her work has been developed with SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ojai Playwrights Conference, the Lark, Primary Stages, and Cape Cod Theatre Project, among others. In 2020, her feature film Premature (2020 Film Independent John Cassavetes Award nominee), which she co-wrote with director Rashaad Ernesto Green, opened in theaters following its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. She is the inaugural Judith Champion Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club and is currently under commission from Seattle Rep, MTC, and Wessex Grove.
Tony Barnstone
Hermitage Fellow Tony Barnstone teaches at Whittier College and is the author of 21 books, a music CD, “Tokyo’s Burning: WWII Songs,” and a tarot deck, The Radiant Tarot: Pathway to Creativity. His poetry books include Pulp Sonnets; Beast in the Apartment; Tongue of War: From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki; The Golem of Los Angeles; Sad Jazz; and Impure. He is also a translator of Chinese literature, anthologist, and world literature textbook editor. Among his awards: The Poets Prize, Grand Prize of the Strokestown International Poetry Contest, Pushcart Prize, John Ciardi Prize, Benjamin Saltman Award, and fellowships from the NEA, the NEH, and the California Arts Council.
Jennifer Croft
Hermitage Fellow Jennifer Croft won a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship for her novel Amadou (forthcoming from Bloomsbury US and Scribe UK in 2023), the 2020 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for her illustrated memoir Homesick and the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for her translation from Polish of Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights. She is also the author of Serpientes y escaleras and Notes on Postcards, as well as the translator of Federico Falco’s A Perfect Cemetery, Romina Paula’s August, Pedro Mairal’s The Woman from Uruguay, Olga Tokarczuk’s The Books of Jacob (a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the International Booker, longlisted for the National Book Award), Sylvia Molloy’s Dislocations, and Sebastián Martínez Daniell’s Two Sherpas. She holds an MFA from the University of Iowa and a PhD from Northwestern University.