Pulitzer Prize Winner Raven Chacon and Diana Al-Hadid at Hermitage on May 23

April 22, 2024 – Sarasota

The Hermitage Artist Retreat is pleased to announce “Visualizing Culture” on Thursday, May 23 at 6:30pm, presented on the Hermitage Beach. This special program features returning Hermitage Fellow and internationally acclaimed visual artist Diana Al-Hadid, whose work is currently on display at the Sarasota Art Museum as part of Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat. She will be joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning Hermitage Fellow Raven Chacon, a celebrated composer, performer, and installation artist from Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation, alongside Candice Hopkins, a citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation whose curated exhibitions have traveled across the country and around the world. All three of these impressive creators will share insights into their groundbreaking processes and perspectives on the contemporary arts landscape.

Diana Al-Hadid’s art “is a masterclass in duality… both ancient and modern, fierce and delicate, simultaneously growing and disintegrating — reminding us there is no such thing as a fixed state.” (Vogue) A Syrian-born American artist, Al-Hadid examines the historical frameworks and perspectives that continue to shape discourse on culture and materials today. With a practice spanning sculpture, wall reliefs, and works on paper, Al-Hadid weaves together enigmatic narratives that draw inspiration from both ancient and modern civilizations. Her work is currently on view through July 7 at the Sarasota Art Museum as part of Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, featuring ten Hermitage Fellows, including Hermitage Greenfield Prize winners Sanford Biggers and Trenton Doyle Hancock, and curated

by Hermitage National Curatorial Council member Dan Cameron. Impact is one of two Hermitage alumni exhibitions on display at the museum, with Hermitage collaborators Anne Patterson and Patrick Harlin’s The Truth of the Night Sky on view through September 29.

As a solo performer, collaborator, and a member of Postcommodity from 2009 to 2018, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and Hermitage Fellow Raven Chacon has exhibited, performed, or had works performed at venues, museums, and galleries around the world, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Borealis Festival in Seattle, Vancouver Art Gallery, Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Adding insight and nuance to the conversation is Hermitage Fellow Candice Hopkins, whose curated exhibitions have been on view in such prestigious venues as the Venice Biennale, Toronto Biennial, and the National Gallery of Canada.

“Visualizing Culture” is a special hour-long program being offered in addition to the Hermitage’s existing May line-up. Engaging directly with this idea through her creative expression, Diana Al-Hadid discusses her work alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon, whose unique graphic scores capture “a concentrated and powerful musical expression with a haunting visceral impact.” (The New York Times) Candice Hopkins bridges the visual and sonic elements of the program with her celebrated insights and personal experiences. Join these three remarkable Hermitage Fellows as they offer insight into their work as the sun sets on the Hermitage Beach.

Hermitage programs like this one 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. Running time for most Hermitage programs is 60-70 minutes. Due to capacity limitations, registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

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 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.

See below for complete program details and artist bios.

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 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 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 State of Florida through the Division of 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.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Newly Announced Program Description:

· “Visualizing Culture” with Hermitage Fellows Diana Al-Hadid, Raven Chacon, and Candice Hopkins Thursday, May 23, 6:30pm: Art, no matter the medium, helps to make abstract concepts like culture and broad historical narrative a palpable, personal experience. Engaging directly with this idea through her work currently on display at the Sarasota Art Museum, internationally acclaimed visual artist Diana Al-Hadid’s art “is a masterclass in duality… both ancient and modern, fierce and delicate, simultaneously growing and disintegrating—reminding us there is no such thing as a fixed state,” (Vogue). In a special beach program, Al-Hadid discusses her work alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon whose unique graphic scores capture “a concentrated and powerful musical expression with a haunting visceral impact,” (New York Times). Adding insight and nuance to the conversation is Candice Hopkins, a citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation whose curated exhibitions have traveled across the country and around the world. Join these remarkable creators for insights into their groundbreaking processes and perspectives on the contemporary arts landscape. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood, FL 34223

UPCOMING HERMITAGE PROGRAMS:

SPECIAL EXHIBITION! – March 10 – July 7, “Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat,” curated by Dan Cameron and featuring ten Hermitage Fellows: Diana Al-Hadid, Sanford Biggers (2010 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner), Chitra Ganesh, Todd Gray, Trenton Doyle Hancock (2013 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner), Michelle Lopez, Ted Riederer, John Sims, Kukuli Velarde, and William Villalongo, at Sarasota Art Museum (Sarasota) Presented in partnership with Sarasota Art Museum

SPECIAL EXHIBITION! – April 21 – September 29, “The Truth of the Night Sky:” A Hermitage Collaboration featuring Hermitage Fellows Anne Patterson and Patrick Harlin, at Sarasota Art Museum (Sarasota) Presented in partnership with Sarasota Art Museum

Wednesday, April 24 @ 3:30pm, “Annette Dignam State College of Florida Residency in Literature at the Hermitage: Writing for the Stage,” featuring Hermitage Fellow Sarah Gancher, at State College of Florida, Venice Campus (Englewood)

Presented in partnership with State College of Florida

Sarah Gancher’s Hermitage Artist Residency made possible by the Annette Dignam State College of Florida Residency in Literature at the Hermitage.

Thursday, May 2 @ 6:30pm, Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens: “Sound and Silence,” featuring Hermitage Fellows Bill Bowers and Kavita Shah, at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point (Osprey) Presented in partnership with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

Friday, May 10 @ 6:30pm, “Waves: Movements that Shape Us,” featuring Hermitage Fellows Rebecca Crenshaw and Bess Wohl, on the Hermitage Beach (Manasota Key)

Wednesday, May 15 @ 6:30pm, “Seeing Oneself & Celebrating Identity,” featuring Hermitage Fellow Shayok Misha Chowdhury, at the Koski Center (Sarasota)

Presented in partnership with ALSO Youth and Asolo Reparatory Theatre and funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Florida Department of State Division of Arts and Culture

NEWLY ANNOUNCED! – Thursday, May 23 @ 6:30pm, “Visualizing Culture,” featuring Hermitage Fellows Diana Al-Hadid, Raven Chacon (Pulitzer Prize winner), and Candice Hopkins, on the Hermitage Beach (Manasota Key)

Friday, May 24 @ 5:30pm, A Piano Performance: “Sonata in Memoriam Lloyd Arriola,” featuring Hermitage Fellow Robert Pound with a performance by pianist Charles Hulin IV, at Oak Street Stage (Sarasota) Presented in partnership with Oak Street Stage