Hermitage to Expand with Support from Barancik Foundation

June 17, 2022 – Sarasota

Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg announced today that the Hermitage is adding new staff positions and growing its core team once again, with generous support from Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.

Over the past two seasons, the Hermitage has dramatically expanded its community programming while adding new positions to keep pace with the rapid growth of the institution. The Hermitage offers transformative experiences to artists and audiences alike, inviting leading artists from around the world to its beachfront campus on Manasota Key and offering rare ‘sneak peeks’ of bold and original new works to audiences throughout our community.

“As our programs and collaborations continue to evolve and expand across our region, we are excited to build bridges to new audiences, and also to share the extraordinary educational impact of our programs with the students in our community,” says Sandberg. “This generous support is going to not only allow us to provide more resources for the diverse and accomplished Hermitage artists who are making a meaningful and lasting impact in our community, but also to support the staff infrastructure needed to maintain the level and quality of unique programming we are committed to delivering.”

A recent $300,000 capacity-building grant from Barancik Foundation is designed to help support these efforts, including the Hermitage’s growing community outreach and education initiatives, enhancing this prestigious national organization’s support for its artists, and broadening the organization’s reach and impact in schools and underserved communities.

“The Hermitage team has a deeply-rooted commitment to offering one-of-a-kind arts and educational experiences in our community,” says Teri A. Hansen, president and CEO of Barancik Foundation. “This support will allow the Hermitage to expand its connection with our community and inspire new audiences and young minds. We hope others will join us in supporting this vision.”

Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg took the helm at the Hermitage in January of 2020. Over the past two seasons, he has been joined by Development Director Amy Wallace, Operations Director Elizabeth Power, Programs Manager James Monaghan, Executive Assistant/Residency Coordinator Sydney Ladendecker, and Grants Coordinator Whitney Stone. The organization aims to have 11 full-time employees by the end of the year, having recently embarked on searches for Managing Director, Marketing & Communications Manager, Artist Alumni Coordinator, and more. More information about available jobs with the Hermitage can be found at HermitageArtistRetreat.org/Jobs.

“I could not be more proud of our incredible team and the work they are doing,” adds Sandberg. “They are some of the most passionate and hardest working individuals I know, working around the clock in support of our mission. It has been an exciting period of growth for the Hermitage, and now this grant will enable us to make some critical new hires in order to take the organization to the next level.”

The Hermitage is the only major arts organization in the Gulf Coast region exclusively committed to supporting the development and creation of new work across all artistic disciplines. Since the start of the pandemic, the Hermitage has offered more than 100 live outdoor artist programs, free and accessible to the members of our community. Venues have expanded beyond the Hermitage’s beautiful beachfront campus to include outdoor locations throughout Sarasota County and beyond, including Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Bay Park Sarasota, Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, The Ringling Museum, Sarasota Art Museum, Boca Grande, and more. New and ongoing collaborations have included Asolo Repertory Theatre, Embracing Our Differences, EnsembleNew SRQ, Florida Studio Theatre, New College of Florida, Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota Opera, Urbanite Theater, Venice Theatre, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, ALSO Youth, and more.

New programs introduced during the past two seasons have included dozens of partnerships with leading arts, cultural, and educational institutions throughout our region. One notable example– also made possible with support from Barancik Foundation – is the “Hermitage @ Booker” series, which has featured Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning theater legend Paula Vogel, leading jazz musician Luke Stewart, and other Hermitage Fellows offering unique and candid interactive experiences to hundreds of students at Booker High School. Barancik funds will also help to ensure that Hermitage artists have the support they need to continue delivering free programming to our community.

The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of visual art, theater, music, literature, dance, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free community programs, offering audiences in our region the unique opportunity to engage with some of the world’s leading artists and to get a “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 programs include performances, lectures, interactive experiences, readings, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.

For more information about the Hermitage or to register for upcoming community programs, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.