2023-2024 Dates Announced for Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens

July 26, 2023 – Sarasota

The Hermitage Artist Retreat’s popular series, “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens,” continues into its fourth year as part of the Hermitage’s 2023-2024 season. The outdoor series — a continuing collaboration between the Hermitage and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens — features performances and explorations of works-in-progress by Hermitage artists-in-residence and alumni.

   “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” events are currently scheduled to take place at Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus and its Historic Spanish Point Campus in Osprey. The first of these events is “The Blurred Line Between Humor and Heartbreak: A Playwriting Workshop,” where award-winning writer, actor, and Hermitage Fellow Halley Feiffer will invite participants into the creative process on Thursday, October 5, at 6pm, at Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota Campus, 1534 Mound St., Sarasota. Admission is free, but registration is required ($5/person) at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.  

     Feiffer is a WGA, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle-nominated writer and actor. She is currently writing and show-running Season 12 of Ryan Murphy’s hit television series American Horror Story, starring Emma Roberts and Kim Kardashian. She is also writing the book for the Broadway-bound stage adaptation of Thelma & Louise with Neko Case composing. Her television and film roles include HBO’s Mildred Pierce, Flight of the Conchords, and Bored to Death, and the films The Squid and the Whale, Gentlemen Broncos, and He’s Way More Famous than You, which she also co-wrote. She is currently developing a film adaptation of her play The Pain of My Belligerence with Lena Dunham’s Good Thing Going for her to direct.

            Confirmed dates for this fourth season of “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” include:

• Thursday, October 5, 2023, Downtown Sarasota Campus
• Thursday, November 30, 2023, Historic Spanish Point Campus
• Thursday, January 25, 2024, Downtown Sarasota Campus
• Thursday March 28, 2024, Downtown Sarasota Campus
• Thursday, May 23, 2024, Historic Spanish Point Campus

Each program will feature a celebrated Hermitage artist (or artists) to be announced. Last year’s “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” spotlighted the works and talents of Hermitage Fellow and playwright Terry Guest, who presented act a new work entitled The Madness of Mary Todd; Sofía Rocha, winner of the 2022 Hermitage Prize in Composition, who shared insights into works performed by the Venice Symphony; Hermitage Major Theater Award Winner Shariffa Ali, who introduced audiences to her South African-set play that will result from the commission; and Karen Patterson, one of the earliest Hermitage Fellows and celebrated cellist, who shared the dynamic beauty of artistic expression and the strength of community in her program at Historic Spanish Point. The 2021-2022 season of “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” included Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Michael R. Jackson, Kleban Prize winner César Alvarez, world-renowned violinist and Beyoncé collaborator Lady Jess, interdisciplinary performance artist Ni’Ja Whitson, opera singer Thea Lobo, as well as celebrated mime and storyteller Bill Bowers.

 “As we continue to offer one-of-a-kind Hermitage programming throughout the region, we are thrilled to once again welcome audiences to share a magical evening with Hermitage artists against the beautiful backdrop of Selby Gardens’ two bayfront campuses,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “We look forward to our continuing partnership with Selby Gardens on this popular series, welcoming new and returning audiences to experience a ‘sneak peek’ into these extraordinary artists’ creative process.”

“We are so excited to continue this extremely successful partnership with the Hermitage Artist Retreat,” says Selby Gardens President & CEO Jennifer Rominiecki. “Welcoming world-renowned Hermitage artists to our bayfront sanctuary in downtown Sarasota and our beautiful Historic Spanish Point campus in Osprey is something we look forward to each year. Treating Gulf Coast patrons to these special programs has been a delight, and we can’t wait to embark on another fantastic season with the Hermitage.” 

These outdoor events are one part of many “Hermitage North” programs and collaborations planned throughout the season, spanning Sarasota County and the surrounding region. The programs feature industry-leading playwrights, visual artists, musicians, poets, choreographers, and more — all free to the members of our community with a $5/person registration fee.

The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where diverse and accomplished artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, dance, film, 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.

For more information about the Hermitage and upcoming programs, visit: HermitagArtistRetreat.org.