The Hermitage Welcomes Alice Court, Tim Flood, and Peter Offringa to Board of Trustees; Flora Major and Charlie Huisking Named as Inaugural Honorary Trustees

Three new trustees join the board along with three new Emeritus Trustees and two Honorary Trustees. Carole Crosby has been unanimously reelected as President.

July 8, 2024 — The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) announced today that Alice Court (Boca Grande / Toronto), Tim Flood (Manasota Key),and Peter Offringa (Sarasota) have been elected to the Hermitage Board of Trustees. In addition, longtime Hermitage supporters and Sarasota arts philanthropists Charlie Huisking (Sarasota) and Flora Major (New York / Sarasota) have been unanimously elected as the Hermitage’s first Honorary Trustees. All five commenced their term on July 1, 2024. Earlier this season, past Hermitage trustees Larry Bold (Manasota Key), Tom Dignam (Englewood), and Andy Maass (Longboat Key) were recognized by the Hermitage as Emeritus Trustees.

These additions to the Hermitage Board follow a remarkable season that has included more than 55 live programs and events, dozens of new and expanded arts and education partnerships in the community, and another record-breaking fiscal year.

“We are incredibly excited to be welcoming these distinguished individuals to the Hermitage Board,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “These are some of the Hermitage’s most vibrant champions, and their passion for the mission and future of the organization is truly inspiring. Their experience, intelligence, and thoughtful creativity will be invaluable to the organization’s continued growth and success.”

“It is truly an honor to welcome Alice, Tim, and Peter to our Board, as well as our distinguished new Honorary and Emeritus Trustees,” says Hermitage Board President Carole Crosby. “Andy’s vision for the Hermitage and the passionate team he has assembled are elevating the organization to new heights. I look forward to working with our new trustees to ensure a bright future for the organization, creating a lasting impact in our community and our culture.”

Splitting her time between Boca Grande, Florida and Toronto, Canada, Alice Court received her first degree in music and began her career as a writer and host of a children’s television show. After earning her Master of Business, Court joined the team at Procter & Gamble. She took a brief hiatus from the corporate world to work as a case writer and research associate for the Harvard Business School, returning to Procter & Gamble for an eleven-year career in corporate Brand management and advertising in both Canada and England, before relocating to Texas. Court has served on several boards, including St. Mark’s School of Texas, the Executive Board of the Dallas Opera, and the Council of Advisors for National Geographic. In Boca Grande, she has been a board member of The Friends of Boca Grande and most recently served as President of the Royal Palm Players.

Tim Flood, a retired doctor of ophthalmology and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, is a longtime resident of Manasota Key. Tim and his wife Suzette recently became full-time residents of Florida after many years between Chicago and Sarasota. Longtime supporters of the Hermitage, Tim and Suzette served as Co-Chairs for the 2023 Artful Lobster. He is a graduate of UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and completed a residency at UC Irvine. A native of San Jose, California, Flood graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in psychology and then went on to study biomedical sciences at Dartmouth Medical School New Hampshire. He was a diplomat of the American Board of Ophthalmology and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Peter Offringa is a graduate of Princeton University, where he earned his degree in computer science before spending four years in the Army as a Communications Specialist. He started a web development consultancy in Dallas and began building consumer internet websites as a software engineer. He subsequently spent eighteen years in San Francisco working with some of the world’s largest consumer internet brands, including roles as VP of Engineering and Chief Technology Officer within Comcast’s Spotlight Division, CBS Interactive, CNET Networks, and Catalina Marketing. After moving to Florida in 2015, he spent several years as the CTO for Boatsetter. He is on the Board and Executive Committee of Bridge Angel Investors in Sarasota, and he has served on the board of advisors and as an executive for many start-ups during his career. He is the current President of the Princeton Club of Sarasota, past President of the Ivy League Club, and Chair of the Ivy League Professionals networking group.

Charlie Huisking and Flora Major were elected as the Hermitage Artist Retreat’s first Honorary Trustees. This designation was created to recognize distinguished ambassadors and advocates of the Hermitage – individuals who have gone above and beyond in their service to the organization and continue to champion its mission.

Flora Major has been a longtime champion of the Hermitage, and through her Kutya Major Foundation, she worked with Andy Sandberg to launch the prestigious Hermitage Major Theater Award (HMTA) in 2021. Now celebrating its fourth year, the HMTA is one of the largest unrestricted nonprofit arts commissions in the United States, annually awarding a $35,000 cash prize to create an original work of theater, an extended Hermitage residency, and a workshop in a notable arts capital such as New York, London, or Chicago. Throughout her career, Major has served on many nonprofit boards in Sarasota and beyond.

Charlie Huisking, a Sarasota native, has been involved with the local arts and cultural community for decades. After returning to Sarasota upon graduation from the University of Notre Dame, Huisking served as arts writer and columnist for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for thirty-three years. Since his retirement, Huisking has been a proud supporter of a wide range of arts and social service organizations, including the Hermitage, and has served on the boards of several nonprofits in the region.  

Complete bios below.

The Hermitage’s Board Officers for the 2024-2025 season are Carole Crosby, President; David Green, Vice President; Steve Adler, Treasurer; and Sondra Biller, Secretary. The Hermitage Board of Trustees also includes Ellen Berman (Chair of Governance), Christine Boone, Terry Brackett, Maryann Casey, Robyn Citrin (Past President), Alice Court,* Marletta Darnall, Leslie Edwards (Past President), Tim Flood,* Stephanie Jones, Tina Shao Napoli, Peter Offringa,* Liz Richardson, Edward M. Swan, Jr., Mary Lou Winnick, Doug Wright, and Andy Sandberg, Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO (ex-officio). *Indicates New Trustee

Emeritus Trustees elected earlier this year include Larry Bold, Tom Dignam,and Andy Maass; these three longtime champions of the Hermitage join the previously elected Nelda Thompson. Honorary Trustees include Charlie Huisking and Flora Major.

A leading national arts incubator, the Hermitage is the only major arts organization in Florida’s Gulf Coast exclusively committed to supporting the development and creation of new work across all artistic disciplines. 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 year-round 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, conversations, 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: HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

The Hermitage Artist Retreat

Sarasota County, Florida

Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO

The Hermitage is a leading national arts incubator and nonprofit artist retreat located on Manasota Key, Florida. For more than two decades, the Hermitage has invited 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 16 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 and accomplished group of Hermitage alumni have gone on to renowned theaters, concert halls, and galleries throughout the world. Each year, the Hermitage awards the Hermitage Greenfield Prize for a new work of art, the 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 the National Endowment for the Arts; Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues; the Welles Murphey Fund at Gulf Coast Community Foundation; Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation; and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

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ALL ANNOUNCED HERMITAGE PROGRAMS:

Friday, July 12 @ 2pm, “2024 Hermitage STARs,” featuring Florida Arts Educators, on the Hermitage Beach (Manasota Key) Presented in partnership with FAAE, Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota & Desoto Counties, and Englewood YMCA

Thursday, July 25 @ 6:30pm, “Interrupted History,” featuring Hermitage Fellows

Jeffery Renard Allen, Yasi Alipour, Paul Rucker, and Sanderia Faye Smith on the Hermitage Beach (Manasota Key)

Friday, August 9 @ 6:30pm, “Translation-Traducción,” featuring Hermitage Fellow

Mónica Lavín and Translator-Collaborator D.P. Snyder, on Hermitage Beach (Manasota Key) Presented in partnership with UnidosNow

Friday, August 23 @ 6:30pm, “The Lazour Brothers: A Lifelong Collabrotion,” featuring 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Finalists Daniel Lazour & Patrick Lazour, on the Hermitage Beach (Manasota Key) 

BIOS

Carole Crosby, President

Carole Crosby joined the Hermitage Board of Trustees in 2019. Prior to her election as President in of 2023, she served as Chair of the Governance Committee. Before her law career, Crosby was the principal harpist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she has always had a passion for the study of law, which she pursued while playing in the Orchestra. Upon graduating as valedictorian, Crosby joined a major Detroit law firm. After a lifetime in the Detroit area, she and her husband Larry Wickless moved to Chicago in 2008 for his professional pursuits. There, she became actively involved in the Alliance Francaise de Chicago, serving on its Board of Directors and Executive Committee and as the Co-Chair of its Cultural Committee, organizing the yearly French Decorative Arts Symposium. She is also a Life Antiquarian of the Art Institute of Chicago. Carole and Larry purchased a home in the Museum District of Sarasota, having spent part of the third grade here with her mother and twin sister. Her parents, aunt, and uncle later retired to Sarasota. Loving the life and culture here, Carole and her family decided to permanently relocate. In Sarasota, Crosby served as the President of the Asolo Repertory Theatre and has previously served as President of The Fine Arts Society of Sarasota and President of the Alliance Francaise de Sarasota. She is honored to serve as President of the Board of Trustees for the Hermitage.

New Hermitage Trustees Bios

Alice Court

Alice Court was born on the east coast of Canada into a family that lived the Maritime tradition of entertaining each other with song and stories. Her first degree was a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University, and her first job was as a writer and host of a children’s television show. She continued doing the show while studying for her Master of Business and joined Procter & Gamble in Canada right out of university. She took a year sabbatical to work as a Research Associate and Case Writer for the Harvard Business School and returned to Procter & Gamble for an eleven-year career in corporate brand management and advertising in both Canada and England. When her husband David’s job took her family to Dallas, Texas, she left the corporate world and began working with nonprofits. She has served on the board of St. Mark’s School of Texas, the Executive Board of the Dallas Opera, and the Council of Advisors for National Geographic. Alice and Dave purchased a house on Boca Grande in 2005, where she has been a board member of The Friends of Boca Grande and most recently has served as President of the Royal Palm Players, a local community theater where Alice has also enjoyed roles on stage as Dolly in Hello, Dolly and Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes. Alice and Dave have three children and split their time between Boca Grande, Florida and Toronto, Canada.  

Tim Flood

Tim Flood, a retired doctor, is a longtime and beloved resident of Manasota Key. He and his wife Suzette were back and forth between Florida and the Chicago area for many years, until they recently relocated full-time to Florida. Tim and Suzette have been longtime friends and supporters of the Hermitage, and they served as Co-Chairs for the 2023 Artful Lobster. For the past two seasons, Tim has taken the artists out a few times each year on his boat for a tour of Lemon Bay and the surrounding area. Tim was a vitreoretinal disease specialist in Chicago, IL. He graduated from University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine in 1976 and completed a residency at University of California, Irvine School Of Medicine. A native of San Jose, Calif., Tim graduated from University of California (Berkeley) with a degree in psychology and then went on to study biomedical sciences at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H. He then earned his medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine. After completing an internship and ophthalmology residency at the University of California (Irvine), Tim completed a retina fellowship at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. He was a diplomat of the American Board of Ophthalmology and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Peter Offringa

Peter Offringa was born in West Point, New York. A graduate of Princeton University, he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science; he also played rugby at Princeton and participated in ROTC. After college, Peter spent four years in the Army himself as a communications officer. He was stationed in Georgia, South Korea, and Colorado. During his last post at Fort Carson, he managed the army base’s wide area network, providing early exposure to the burgeoning internet. In 1995, Offringa left the Army and moved to Dallas, Texas. There, he started a web development consultancy and began building consumer internet websites as a software engineer. His firm’s largest client was a rapidly growing AdTech company in San Francisco. They soon hired Peter to lead development and moved him to San Francisco, where he spent the next eighteen years. Offringa was gradually promoted into executive positions, leading software development at some of the world’s largest consumer Internet brands. These included roles as VP of Engineering and Chief Technology Officer within Comcast’s Spotlight Division, CBS Interactive, CNET Networks, and Catalina Marketing. He has also been part of the executive team of several exciting start-ups, leading technology through multiple funding rounds. His last job in San Francisco was as SVP of Engineering at Zoosk, which was a global online dating service with 30M members across 60 countries. Zoosk registered to go public in 2014 and Peter was a named executive on the S-1 filing. Peter is a listed inventor on three patent applications for web advertising and content delivery. In 2015, Offringa and his wife moved to Sarasota, Florida. He spent several years as the CTO of Boatsetter, the leading peer-to-peer boat rental platform. After building out the technology team and working through a $10M Series A funding round, Peter transitioned his technology experience into conducting deep equity analysis within the software infrastructure industry, highlighting investment opportunities in leading providers. He founded the popular equity research service Software Stack Investing, where he publishes analysis, consults with leading hedge funds and presents at investor conferences. As part of this, he is a guest lecturer for the London Business School’s Masters in Finance program. Peter is also an active venture capital investor and supporter of the local start-up community. He is on the investment committee for venture capital firm Nassau Street Ventures. He is on the Board and Executive Committee of Bridge Angel Investors, the largest angel group in Sarasota, and he serves on the Advisory Board of the 26 West Entrepreneurship Center at the State College of Florida and the Sarasota County EDC Technology and Entrepreneurship Working Group. He has served on the board of advisors for many start-ups during his career. Beyond his professional roles, he is the current President of the Princeton Club of Sarasota, past President of the Ivy League Club, and Chair of the Ivy League Professionals networking group.

Hermitage Honorary Trustee Bios

Charlie Huisking

Charlie Huisking is a Sarasota native who has been involved with the local cultural community for decades. After returning to Sarasota upon graduation from the University of Notre Dame, Huisking served as arts writer and columnist for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for 33 years. He chronicled the growth of Sarasota’s arts institutions and interviewed visiting artists ranging from Helen Hayes and Gregory Peck to Audrey Hepburn and Luciano Pavarotti. Since his retirement, Huisking has been a proud supporter of a wide range of arts and social service organizations, including the Hermitage Artist Retreat, and has served on the boards of the Asolo Rep, Key Chorale, the Library Foundation for Sarasota County, and the Barancik Foundation.

Flora Major

Flora Major moved to Sarasota in 2005 and immediately became involved in the region’s arts and culture scene. Originally from Hungary, Flora was a successful entrepreneur in the telecommunications business in New York and the textile industry in North Carolina. She has served on several nonprofit boards through the years, including the Duke University Eye Center, the Duke University Museum of Art, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Advisory Board of Lenox Hill Hospital, Sarasota Orchestra, Asolo Repertory Theatre, and the Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States. Majorhas been a longtime supporter of the Hermitage, and she was proud to significantly increase her engagement and support upon the arrival of Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. In 2021, she worked with Sandberg to establish and launch the prestigious Hermitage Major Theater Award (HMTA). Now celebrating its fourth year, the HMTA is one of the largest unrestricted non-profit arts commissions in the United States, annually awarding a $35,000 cash prize to create an original work of theater, an extended Hermitage residency, and a workshop in a notable arts capital. Flora has chaired multiple galas and events for the Hermitage, and she is proud to now be an inaugural Honorary Trustee. She is also currently on the board of the Council for the Arts at MIT, Ringling College of Art and Design, and Sarasota Art Museum (founding member). She launched the DIAL (Diversity in Art Leadership) program in Sarasota in collaboration with Americans for the Arts and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. She is an avid art collector and supporter of the arts, especially the theater; she has produced and supported several plays in New York and London.  With her husband Steven Deak, she currently lives between Florida and New York.