Education Matters | Inspiring the Artists of Tomorrow: The Hermitage Artist Retreat

By Ryan G. Van Cleave | September 2022

We’ve all heard of the Hermitage Artist Retreat, but most don’t realize its real importance and impact. Andy Sandberg, who’s served as its Artistic Director and CEO since December 2019, points out that it’s a leading national arts organization that brings major visibility to Sarasota and the entire Gulf Coast region because it’s the only major arts organization here that’s exclusively committed to the creation and development of new work. “While many of the arts, cultural, and education partners and collaborators we work with recognize the importance of new work or may offer new work festivals, the Hermitage is the only organization in our Gulf Coast region that is 100% about supporting that early-stage work and championing artists in the creation and development of new work across all artistic disciplines.”

What’s exciting is that people can see these new works in their early stages. Sure, it’s not a multimillion-dollar production, but who doesn’t want to witness a top-tier creative baring their heart and soul in a very exposed and trusted environment? “At our events,” Sandberg says, “we often say if there are any New York Times critics in the audience, they should take a hike because that’s not what this is about. This is about artists sharing their work in process and the community getting to experience that.”

“Experience” is the key word. For the artists, they get the experience of focused, quiet, safe time to work. For the rest of us, we get to experience about 60 live programs a year that happen all throughout the region. Every one of them has an educational component, because what’s being offered isn’t finished products or polished productions. Instead, the Hermitage is offering sneak peeks into works in process from leading artists from all around the world in different disciplines. “So, you might see the early stages of a playwright’s work before it goes on to Broadway or an early snippet of a composition before it goes on to Lincoln Center or elsewhere,” explains Sandberg.

Nearly all of the programs have a Q&A component, and many are direct school outreach initiatives. One of those that launched last year was the Hermitage @ Booker series, which pairs Hermitage artists with Booker High School’s Visual & Performing Arts program. The series began with jazz bassist Luke Stewart who shared an improvisational selection of his music, then he led a jam session with local artists and students. He also discussed his creative process and talked about how to forge a career in the world of music.

“It was a great success,” reports Sandberg. “Luke Stewart is considered one of the top jazz musicians in the country, and he’s an educator and community activist as well. It was a really cool opportunity for the students to engage directly with him. We also had Paula Vogel in residence at the Hermitage, who is a living legend of the theater, a Pulitzer and Tony winner—plus a theater Hall of Famer. She came and spoke to the students at Booker about how to write a play.”

These events often happen in Booker’s outdoor courtyard because they’re meant to engage the entire community. But the Hermitage also does numerous individual classroom visits that aren’t part of the public program or concert series. “Sometimes our artists are interested in talking to a smaller group of students and a particular class might have an opportunity to engage with an artist in a field that is exciting to them,” Sandberg says. “Because they have such a robust visual and performing arts program, the students at Booker really appreciate the value of getting to meet some of these truly top-talent artists.”

With the mission of the Hermitage being “to inspire and foster the most influential and culturally consequential art and artists of our time,” figuring out who to invite is a crucial part of the equation. That obligation falls on the Hermitage’s National Curatorial Council who are tasked with identifying artists who are forward thinking, driven, and can make the most use of this time. “They’re told to pick from an open slate of thousands of brilliant, talented artists,” says Sandberg. “As someone who gets to be a fly on the wall during those conversations, I can say that it’s not necessarily just about what the artists are working on. It’s also about how they might maximize the time, and who needs this opportunity to elevate their work or their artistry.” The curators also keep an eye toward diversity of geography, ethnicity, gender, race, sexuality. From looking at current and past fellows, the Hermitage has one of the most extraordinarily diverse populations of any arts organization.

As part of their commitment to supporting artists, the Hermitage offers two of the largest arts commissions in the country. Since 2008, they’ve offered the Hermitage Greenfield Prize which gives an annual $30,000 award for future work in theater, music, and visual art. The winner receives a Hermitage residency and has two years to complete their commission. For example, Helga Davis, the 2019 winner of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize, just premiered her multi-screen film, performance, and music installation “Ocean Body” at the Hermitage in March 2022. “Helga wanted a chorus and performers as part of her piece,” says Sandberg. “We thought it would be a great opportunity to engage the students of New College and their theater and music programs. They loved it because they got to work with brilliant artists like Helga and her collaborators. They were all part of the experiment together.”

There’s also the Hermitage Major Theater Award, which gives an annual $35,000 commission to a playwright to create an original work of theater. The winner receives a six-week residency to develop the new work, and they later have an inaugural reading or workshop in a leading arts and cultural center such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, or London.

Sandberg admits, “Fortunately, I got to come in and inherit an organization that had built a robust history over the prior 16 years, and we’re now approaching our 20th anniversary season, which is exciting.” He’s come to love the Sarasota art scene. “Still, we need to recognize that not everyone outside of our bubble understands and appreciates what’s going on within our 30-mile radius.” But that’s the wonder that is the Hermitage. It puts an international spotlight on what’s going on here.

“80% of the artists who come through here haven’t heard of Sarasota,” he says. “But because they’ve come to the Hermitage, that’s led to 20 different exhibits or special performances at The Ringling Museum. It’s led to various productions for a number of local theaters. It’s led to artists returning for a New Music New College event.” In short, thanks to the Hermitage, artists are finding out about Sarasota and falling in love with what’s happening here. Sandberg says, “It’s one of the coolest things about this arts ecosystem that we live in.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION the Hermitage Artist Retreat and upcoming programs, please visit www.HermitageArtistRetreat.org.